Glacier

Some of you already know, but for those who haven't gotten the news yet we had to put Glacier to sleep on Monday.  For the past 2 months she had been experiencing a nasty hacking cough, and lots of swelling around her face and neck.  She had been very lethargic for weeks, she hardly wanted to eat, her breathing was heavy, and she didn't really have any interest for things she used to enjoy.  She even started having temporary paralysis around her hind legs.  Over the course of several weeks I took her to the vet to try to find a diagnosis.  We thought it was some kind of allergy or infection of some kind, and we tried several techniques to fix the problem.  Antibiotics and cortizone shots helped a little, but the positive results would only last for a few days and then the symptoms would return.  Then last Friday our vet took some blood samples and x-rays, and it was then that he discovered a large tumor just below her lungs in her rib cage (around the size of 2 fists put together).  He also found two small tumors attached on her lungs.  Evidently the large tumor was close to the spinal column, and it was blocking the flow of her glands, so fluid would build up around her head and have nowhere to go.  That's what was causing the swelling and paralysis spells.  The large tumor was not cancerous, but it was a size and in a location that made removal not possible.  We could have tried chemotherapy, but that was not realistic considering her age (13 1/2.)  She didn't seem to be in any pain that we could tell, but she was uncomfortable and deteriorating.  We could have tried to continue on with medications but that would have only delayed the inevitable, since the problems were worsening.  So in short, we were talking weeks here...not months.  So the vet and I agreed that it was time to say our goodbyes and put her out of her misery.  It was a difficult decision for Jenny and I because she still wagged her tail at us and wanted to be petted.  She was still very coherent, even in her last days.  But we didn't want to continue on and have her suffer and continue to get worse.  Back when she was around 8 she had a benign tumor removed from her side, and she had "fatty pockets" of tissue around her body, so she had always been susceptible to things like this, and our vet had always told us there would be a chance something like this would happen eventually.  So while we were saddened about all of this, we were not that surprised.

So I took her to the vet Monday morning and I stayed with her throughout the procedure.  That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  Then we'll have her cremated and we'll take her remains back home with us next time we go to Michigan.  We'll do a proper memorial for her in our backyard, and leave her in the place she loved the most.  If you read on below you'll see we spent this past weekend saying our goodbyes, and we took her for a few fun walks and she got to play in the snow (something she always loved in Colorado and Michigan.)  Throughout all of this we've been completely honest with the kids.  I debated whether or not to "sugar coat" what was going on, but we decided to tell them everything and be completely honest.  Of course they've been sad about all of this for the past several days, but they've been handling it well.

Losing a pet whom you're close to is always difficult, but for Jenny and I losing Glacier has been more difficult than we were ready for.  In many ways she had always been like our first child.  We got her long before we ever had kids, back in our "salad years."  And outside of our wedding Glacier was there with us through every major event in our marriage.  The births of both of our kids, 3 different moves across the country, the move to Switzerland, the hurricane, etc.  She was definitely a part of us and our history, and we will never completely get over her I think.  Like Jenny said in her email the other day, there will be more dogs in the future for us, but Glacier will always be "impossible" to replace.

Anyway, I thought I would try to close on a slightly brighter note by sharing with everyone some facts about Glacier's interesting life.  She had a pretty amazing life...considering she was a dog (Ha!)  She was born on August 14th, 1999 in Craig, Colorado, a tiny farm town just west of Steamboat Springs.  She was technically a mix of Lab, and Brittany Spaniel (and a little German Shepherd we think.)  Jenny and I adopted her when she was 3 months old from a "Puppy Rescue" organization located in Brighton (an organization that goes around Colorado and Wyoming and rescues puppies from rural farming communities and brings them to the cities to be adopted.)  That was how we got Glacier.  At the time we hadn't even thought about getting a lab.  We were in a condo at the time and we were hoping for a smaller dog.  But once we met Glacier it was an "instant connection" between the three of us that just clicked.  It's hard to explain really.  Her personality and demeanor was such a perfect fit for us.  And I guess over time she proved us right.  During that first year Jenny was finishing up her doctorate at Colorado State, so she spent many Saturday and Sunday afternoons studying.  So Glacier kept me company and she and I would spend weekends and afternoons chasing the frisbee at the park, or hiking around the foothills outside of Fort Collins.  That was how it all started.

Over the next 13 1/2 years she lived in Colorado, then Michigan, then Louisiana, and then back in Michigan.  She took countless trips down to Texas, traveled across 12 more states, and eventually flew across the Atlantic to live with us in Switzerland.  She even took a trip with us to Germany once.  She hiked in the Rocky Mountains, swam in the Great Lakes, swam in the Gulf of Mexico, camped everywhere it seems like, and at the end hiked and swam in the hills and lakes around Zurich.  Pretty amazing for a little pup born on a farm somewhere in Colorado.  All through her life she had always been very intelligent and easy to train.  She loved to fetch anything you would throw at her, she could do all the silly dog tricks, and I even taught her to bring Jenny a Coke no matter where she was in the house.  In her prime I counted her vocabulary to be around 40 words and commands.  She loved to go places with us and ride in the car.  She would go with me to pick up the kids at school and all the kids would say hi to her.  Most of all she loved people.  Other dogs...well...not so much.  Ha!  But nobody's perfect.

I'm very thankful we brought her here with us to Switzerland.  We knew she would probably not make the return move with us back to the U.S. whenever that may be, but we're glad we brought her here.  When we first learned we were moving here the kids asked me "what are we going to do with Glacier?" and I told them she was coming with us.  No questions asked.  I said..."if we're moving to Switzerland we're all going to go there together."  And we did.  By the way, many thanks to Mat and Beth for helping us get her here.  I know it wasn't exactly easy, but thank you.  We couldn't have done it without you both.

Ben painted this picture the other day of him and Glacier.  As you can see we're already missing her terribly, but we will pull through as a family.  We couldn't have asked for a better dog.  She was one of those dogs that you hope you end up having when you get a puppy.  She had a great life and she brought us lots of happiness.  And that's what will give us comfort.