10/28/2026
I have sad news today. We have lost two of our older pups. This time of year, it always happens. Our older dogs just do not want to go through another winter, and our inbox fills up with requests to help dogs whose elderly owners have passed also. I will probably do the same one year.
We have lost Owen, who came here in May of 2025 in kidney failure and in pain. As the mornings got colder, his pain got worse. He fell a lot, it hurt for him to stand, he could no longer sit at all. He was not a complainer, but even on all the meds, he was getting worse. I truly didn't think he would last this long, but his kidneys didn't get him. That is saying something. He enthusiastically screamed at the cats, and ate everything offered as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, right up until the end. And now he is free of pain.
And we lost Piper yesterday. She would have been 17 in February. Piper came here in June of 2022 when she was 12. She had spent almost all of her time in a crate - day and night - for years and years. By the time she got here, she was incontinent. Over the years, with treatment, that got much better and she rarely had accidents, even while sleeping, any longer. And, boy, did she make up for lost time! She LOVED the youngsters, especially the boys, and would run and wrestle with them. She had a very distinctive bark that she used a lot. She adored being able to go outside just any old time. Piper was a huge presence here. Not to be ignored.
Over the weekend, something changed. She developed a severe head tilt and could only take tiny steps. It became much worse quickly. Our vet thought it was a stroke or a brain tumor. I gave her one more day to see if there was any improvement, but things just got worse. She went so quickly. I know it was the right thing, but that doesn't make it easier. Here are some pix of the many, many faces of Piper.
