Jessie....

Today we let Jessie cross the Rainbow Bridge. She was a special dog, always watching over everything. If a dog came over with bad energy, she was always the one to put them in their place. Always gentle and kind. We will miss her.

She hadnt been eating for 3 days and we had been feeding her canned food and anything we could think of to get her to eat, for the past few weeks. The Vet thinks that she probably had a spleen or liver tumor, as that is really commmon in these old dogs, bleeding into her abdomen, she was very anemic and lethargic. She would have been ten in November. They dont live long enough.

We spent the weekend saying goodbye to her, she was special, even among Goldens.

One story about her special gentle nature. My cousin and his wife came over one day with their, then, only 11-12 mo. old little boy, Luke. This was right after we had gotten Jessie and she was 5-6 mo. old. We had her on the leash because she was still getting used to us, as we were her second home. We gave little Luke her leash and I had never seen a dog do this, but Luke would walk a few steps and lead her around and everytime he would stop, she would lie down, he would pull, and she would walk with him, he would stop, and she would lie down. They did this for some time. Jessie continued to always have this gentle kind nature. She was protective though, I have seen her face down strange men with her head lowered, growling and barking in the front yard. She was something else, this dog. Her and her predicesor, Jake, our first Golden Retriever, have made me thoroughly love this breed so much.

Now we arent dogless, but we dont have one that belongs to us, its been a long time since we have been without a pet dog, there is going to be a lot of adjusting. We have decided to just raise the Guide Dog puppies for awhile, probably until one doesnt make it, before we get a pet dog again.