Good-bye Sweet Kody

After fourteen years of love and loyalty, we said good-bye today to our sweet Kody. Kody came into our lives as a nine week old puppy and will always have a place in our hearts. Kody was such a sweet-tempered dog, so patient and loving. He loved people and children, and was always such a happy dog. When he was younger he loved to fetch and to swim. We have so many memories of Kody and the times we shared. I know our other Lab, JD will miss him terribly, too. JD is almost 18 months younger, and they have been inseparable for many years.

About six months or so Kody started having problems getting around, and was limping sometimes. A few more months later we noticed he was lying around a lot more than usual and would cry because it was hard for him to get up. We took him to the vet for a full set of senior workups. He had lost a lot of weight (from a tubby 85 lbs. to a thin 69 lbs.) and the vet found he had pretty bad arthritis and hip pain. The rest of the tests came back clean though, so we started him on Rimadyl and a joint supplement. That seemed to help for a couple months. In the last month or so we noticed he was having more and more bad days where he just laid around and had trouble getting up or moving, and occasionally not eating much (extremely rare for Kody!!) . He was losing more weight, too. This week decided it was probably time to make a decision about whether or not to end his life.

Today we took him back to the vet for another exam and to discuss our options. Kody had lost another 15 lbs. in three months, down to 55lbs. His heart rate was very rapid and his breather labored, in addition to his arthritis, joint, and hip problems. After careful consideration we realized it was time to say good-bye and end his pain. With tears streaming down my face, we held his head in our hands and stroked his sweet face as he went to sleep for the last time. It was heartbreaking to make this decision, and to say good-bye. The only consolation is that he had a full life with lots of love, and he is no longer in pain.

I spent the afternoon digging through old photographs and reliving memories. I'm going to scan some of them into the computer and put together a slideshow to remember Kody by. In the meantime, I'm sharing a photo from when he was a puppy, and one I took in August 2006.

Good-bye, Kody. We love you and will miss you always.

Kody: January 14, 1994 - January 18, 2008

1994


(taken September 2006)