I would have like to have had a chance to say good bye... I think it would have been nice of have had a chance for my boys to say goodbye

RIP Max the Black Lab

I knew this day was coming...
a visit to my father's a few weeks back I got to see the rapidly declining Black Labrador.... 13 years young... that weird labrador perma-puppy
obviously old yet filled with youthful enthusiasm 

you think you will be ready
but the reality about reality
it is different than you imagined it

I did not think I would cry... but I cried

today my father's dog Max was put to rest
Max was old... Max was declining fast
Max seemed to have turned a corner where his quality of life had seriously diminished
it was time

sad 
my father's house will not be the same without Max
it will not be the same without a dog in the house
without that dog... that dog with his never ending excitement and his coffee table clearing tail

at least I had Max by my side as I did my silent protest at my younger son's school
okay... it was not really a dog sit in
but it seems such
and Max did his job well

Max represented the elder statesmen while Didg represented the puppies pack
side by side they greeted children as they came out of the school as we waited for my younger son Grant to exit the building

in those three weeks of dog sitting a number of children quickly built relationships with the 13 year old puppy

yes...
I am glad I had that lengthy visit in the Fall
that was my good bye
I did not get to see him before his visit to the vet
and the last visit I did not know would be my last
so...  my good bye to Max was the multiple daily hikes and the trips to either drop off or pick up the boys from school

those photos of the cyclist are a different Max
when I searched my page for images of this black dog
nothing surfaced
so... I grabbed the one I could
and filled the void with those images of Max
who is alive and well

this may be amusing...  my response to a note "requesting" that people not bring their dogs to school
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/2012/10/my-response-to-their-note.html

http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=dog