"Dog"

My heart is heavy, my eyes are red, and the tears keep coming. 

Today we had to say goodbye. 

He's been our buddy for over 15 years.  He's been our shadow, our companion, our greeter, our watch dog. 

He always had to be near us, no matter where we were or what we were doing. 

He had patience and would wait and watch as you would go about your chores.  He loved to ride in the car and take trips with us, even if it was just to the store.

In the evening he would come down to the sun room to be near me, lay on a silky cloth and  take his snooze.....  If I was gone he would be lost, he needed me to be home in the sun room.

Age caught up with him,  he's had seizures all his life, now he had tumors, arthritis, had lost his hearing, was hard for him to walk, his left front paw and leg was turning inward, had a hard time standing and was always falling down and was unable to get up a lot of the time, which in turn would require help from us....

He wasn't doing well these last few days.  He would be laying on his silky and I would brush him and rub his ears.  This is something he enjoyed, he would close his eyes and sleep... and if he was awake he would look at you and my heart would break.

His name was Bounder, but he was "Dog", but to Kirk he was Doggy.

He will be missed, he was a good friend, never barked, never jumped on you, never licked you, was never demanding, always loving, he was a part of our family and he was loved.

My heart is heavy and the tears keep coming, there is an emptiness in this home tonight.