More Cloey...

Earlier this summer, I stopped by the home of Cloey and Pandy for a morning photo shoot. I posted some pictures of Pandy, but never got around to posting more of Cloey...so, here they are!

 

 

 

 

 

They were great dogs and we had a good time. Sorry for taking so long to get your pictures up, Cloey!

Happier times

Well...that last post was depressing.

On a happier note, I was recently able to pay a visit to a friend's house to photograph her non-canine family members. While dogs are my specialty, I don't mind trying my skills out on other things once in a while. Unfortunately, when it comes to cats, my body tends to protest a bit...as in, I am allergic to them. Therefore, I have a limited amount of time to get my photos done before the wheezing starts. Yikes.

So these were some pretty cool cats! They didn't get all freaked out at the camera. They just went about their business while I roamed around. A pretty good time was had by all and we all survived just fine.

Archie...king cat.

 

The new kids on the block...

 

 Thanks to Archie, Dexter, Penny, and the rest of the gang!

Where do I start this?

Well, the day I hoped would never come, did. One week ago yesterday, we had to say goodbye to our very good dog, Pebbles. She survived a very aggressive cancer that struck two years ago but was recently slowed by a degenerative nerve problem that had weakened her hind legs. She gradually went from two walks a day, to one walk a day, to trouble getting up on her favorite spot on the couch, to only walking from her blanket to outside and back.


Making the decision to humanely end her life was the hardest thing I've had to do in my 45 years. As she lay on her blanket in the living room, she looked like regular Pebbles. She'd beam when you walked into the room, play with her treats, and be her goofy self. When she'd walk, it was a different story. She'd have to drag herself forward to get her back legs under her. There was tripping and falls. Getting up the ramp on our deck was hard.


Living on a blanket on the living room floor is no life for a dog. As our vet would say, her quality of life was suffering. My wife Rose and I both knew the day was coming. We just didn't know which particular day it would be. Finally, we decided she was having pain. I made the phone call, our vet came to the house and administered the shot with Pebbles resting her head on Roses' lap. Her heart stopped...and she was gone. A heavy rain began to pelt the windows and it began to thunder - two of Pebbles least favorite things. We said our goodbyes and gently wrapped her in a blanket. For some reason, I felt compelled to be the one to carry her outside to the car for her final ride...so I did. I cried more in five days than I had in the last 25 years put together.

We adopted Pebs when she was around 2 or 3 years old and lived together for 10 years. We'd walk through our neighborhood twice a day, rain or shine. We'd miss a few times a year with illnesses and the horrible Wisconsin weather days, so that works out to be an amazing 6,000 walks during her life with us.

And, right now, I'd give anything to go for just one more.