Over the last few years, he had been getting old, and with age, his health had deteriorated. This summer, he didn't want to go outside; instead, he preferred to remain in his bed for the most part. His kidneys and liver were failing, he had very high blood pressure, he was in tremendous pain, and he was virtually deaf and blind. His diet included special food with a variety of pills:
Because he had become so sensory deprived (or just confused), we would often find him just staring at walls:
He commonly had problems on the stairs and suffered some startling falls, and he was becoming incontinent, so we had begun to crate him while we were at work. Dino, who had always been the most gentle and obedient of dogs, would get very aggressive, almost biting us on a daily basis:
He had changed a great deal, just like people do sometimes when they begin to fail physically and mentally due to old age. It was with tremendous sadness that we made the decision to say goodbye. The girls and I had the vet take his pawprints in clay and be fired. They will be mounted in a frame with his picture, so that we can remember him. While going through our Dino pictures, there were many of him down a gopher hole or covered in mud, but the one below is of Dino on a walk or run with me on a path in Carbon. That is the way I remember him best.
So this is to Dino:
marathon runner, gopher digger, leg licker, hair shedder, people greeter, greedy eater, awkward snuggler, confused swimmer, focused hunter, quick learner, food gobbler, enthusiastic exerciser, sneaky escaper, destructive toy-chewer, ball chaser, fast racer, champion poser, golden retriever lover, kid protector, and human charmer. Our faithful friend.
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