Sparky: Happy Trails to You

Well, we lost Sparky yesterday afternoon. He was vomiting and also having extreme difficulty breathing. I got him to the vet and they gave him relief from that but I made the decision to let him go.

We knew he had an inoperable mass growing in his chest that would eventually affect his heart and/or lungs. He's been losing weight for several months now so it didn't come as a surprise really, and the breathing difficulty made the decision relatively easy.

I'm grateful that I was home with him and was able to get him to the vet to end his suffering. He was always a robust dog and that is the way I will always remember him. He was a good looking dog and we had him for many years, so I have a lot of pictures of Sparky.

Sparky came in as a foster in May, 2009. He was about a year old then, maybe two, making him about 11 years old now. Sparky wasn't reliable with strangers in the beginning and he was positively terrible with other dogs, so he didn't go to many adoption events. We bonded, however, and he came to trust me. He would let me do things to him that he wouldn't allow from anyone else, and when he was hurt or scared he turned to me for comfort and security. We turned to each other for exercise, adventure, and fun.

Sparky always bounced he was happy and excited.
He would literally jump for joy.

Sparky was my hiking buddy for many years. He needed to get out for some exercise and I did too. The joy he experienced from the simple act of walking in the woods was infectious. I caught the bug and we hiked the trails at Pleasant Grove many times over. It was never monotonous, however, every time was a new adventure with Sparky. Every dog I've hiked with since then owes a debt to Sparky for making me enjoy it as much as he did.

Sparky on the new deck I built in his kennel.

Eventually Sparky mellowed and realized that if he wanted to move indoors he would have to stop beating up other dogs. I probably could have brought him in sooner than I did, but before that I built him a habitat (Rottweiler World) that would have been the envy of any backyard dog in the county.

He's been sharing the dog beds on my side of the room with Serena, and before that, Vince. There's a big empty spot there now.

It's hard to beat the simple joy
 of a roll in the grass.

Sparky was always a happy dog but he was
happiest when we were out on the trails.

This is the spot I've always called Sparky's
Watering Hole. Many dogs have enjoyed it,
but probably none as much as Sparky.

Sparky was truly a dog for all seasons,
he was always ready to go.

Sparky embodied a lot of traits that I envied and often
found lacking in myself; but Sparky didn't judge, he was
that friend that made you feel good about yourself.

This is a Sparky kiss about to happen.

We used to do some very long hikes
so water breaks were always welcome.

When he was scared, he would look right at me with
those big brown eyes and trust me to make it better.

Happy trails, Sparky, until we meet again.