A strange mood permeates the ether tonight. An old and, by most standards, quite useless dog lies here- at my feet. She is dying after thirteen years of kidneys and hip joints - the German Shepherd's curse. I have promised to protect her these final hours and allow her a gentle and dignified passing. The other dogs have been warned away although they learned that she was Queen long ago. The coyotes would have to evade the two of them as well as my 12-gauge and that is not going to happen. And her ancient enemy the veternarian will not be a problem unless called for.

Thirteen years sounds like such a long time. A lot can happen. I was diagnosed thirteen years ago next week (March 6). The world has changed much since I was a pup.

Hug those you love tonight for you have a finite number of opportunities. Then sleep well. I stand guard.

I'm hugging my Australian Shepherd, Truly, close to me now.

Sweet dreams to your pup, and love to you, Rick!

"Hug those you love tonight for you have a finite number of opportunities. Then sleep well. I stand guard."

I would feel completely safe, with you standing guard.
"To the last syllable of recorded time"

You bring back the memories of all my beloved dogs I have held through their final hours. Tears and hugs.

Our old "queen" dog died 2 weeks ago, she was nearly 16.
A border collie lab mix.
Kidneys & internals shut down for her.

We let her pass on her own time frame too.

Some asked why not have her euthanized, but she seemed to be comfortable for the most part, and I got some liquid ACE painkiller from the vet for her if she needed it. But she went quietly that last night.

Peace to you and your old dog...

May your dear friend and companion continue to be your angel after she transitions. Sending you and your doggy blessings.....I am deeply grateful each day for my animal friends.

You are a good and caring man and she knows it. My blessings....

One of my "angels" in this life was a kitten that we got at a shelter for my daughters one birthday..all she wanted was a kitten that year. My love died the next day and it seemed his spirit of caring passed into her. That cat was by my side the rest of her life/ had many litters of beautiful kittens on my bed. She went with me to the woods to dig spring when we moved to TN and my heart was weak (she would sit above me on a rock . When my heart would start pounding loudly...she would jump on my shoulder and just sit there til I rested and my heart rate became normal again)....definitely my angel.
God be with you as you stand guard over your special friend.

Thanks to you all. She made it through the night albeit just barely and is pretty much noneresponsive now. The day will be spent finishing up the grave begun yesterday. Thanks again. -Rick

Rick, I just spent several minutes on a reply to your posting about your beloved friend and then hit the wrong key and it vanished. So let me try again. As a mother to countless rescue dogs over the years, I know this is one of the darkest days of your life. I'm not a religious person, but the perfect love our dogs and beloved pets have for us makes me think there has to be a God. Whether this is true or not, we will all find out soon enough. But somewhere in this little pea-sized brain of mine, I can vividly contemplate an image of being surrounded by the wet noses and bright eyes of all the animals I've loved--on the other side of things. In the meantime, God bless you and your magnificent four footed friend.