We had to put down our redbone coon hound today. Leo, aka "brown" was an awesome, loyal, loving dog.
We don't really know how old he was. He appeared out of the woods one day from the back of our property, walked up to me all friendly like with his brown eyes saying "help". He was emaciated weighing 55lbs, ribs very visible, etc. We took him in and got him healthy and at a healthy 85lb in a few months. The vet figured he was about a year old at that time.
He had his moments early on... mainly young dog stuff...chewing on the wrong things, testing our patience and will, but he quickly became a key member of our family. Everyone loved Leo, our other dog, cats, etc.
He was a bit of a goofy dog too. Scratchin his back doing a shimmy on the rug. Laying next to me in bed where I'd talk to him. He would get excited by certain words, for instance if I said I was going to do some shooting, he would get all excited...yet he was gun shy and would cower on our bed. "Secret" was his favorite...he knew what that meant and would woowoo his brains out when you told him what it was.
He was also a peace keeper with his "brothers". If our pug and youngest cat were wrestling a bit too hard, he would intervene with a few barks and step in.
He was a total bed hog. He would lay between us perpindicularly and leave us each on the edge. On a king size bed too.
He loved driving around to wherever. We couldnt really take him out in public as he was a total spazz and would never calm down, but he loved to ride in the backseat even if it was just a short drive to the in laws.
The last 6 months or so we noticed he was spending more time sleeping than normal, and figured he was just getting older. The first of October he was limping, so we took him in where he displayed no signs of lameness. He got some meds for 2 weeks, and was fine during that time, but as soon as he ran out he was limping again. Back to the vet where an xray confirmed it...osteosarcoma. 1 to 6 months.
He was doing pretty good with pain meds up until Thanksgiving afternoon when he started limping badly again. When he wasnt helping us with our turkey dinner he was resting. Over the weekend it became apparent his leg was really bothering him and he was struggling with normal activities. We ended up deciding over the weekend that today would be the day. We didnt see the point in him suffering with pain any longer especially since it was going to get much worse.
He and I took our final walk this morning before the trip to the vet. It was heart wrenching.
He passed in our arms around 10am.
He will be greatly missed. Such a huge personality like his will leave a void for sure, but time will heal all wounds I suppose.
We don't really know how old he was. He appeared out of the woods one day from the back of our property, walked up to me all friendly like with his brown eyes saying "help". He was emaciated weighing 55lbs, ribs very visible, etc. We took him in and got him healthy and at a healthy 85lb in a few months. The vet figured he was about a year old at that time.
He had his moments early on... mainly young dog stuff...chewing on the wrong things, testing our patience and will, but he quickly became a key member of our family. Everyone loved Leo, our other dog, cats, etc.
He was a bit of a goofy dog too. Scratchin his back doing a shimmy on the rug. Laying next to me in bed where I'd talk to him. He would get excited by certain words, for instance if I said I was going to do some shooting, he would get all excited...yet he was gun shy and would cower on our bed. "Secret" was his favorite...he knew what that meant and would woowoo his brains out when you told him what it was.
He was also a peace keeper with his "brothers". If our pug and youngest cat were wrestling a bit too hard, he would intervene with a few barks and step in.
He was a total bed hog. He would lay between us perpindicularly and leave us each on the edge. On a king size bed too.
He loved driving around to wherever. We couldnt really take him out in public as he was a total spazz and would never calm down, but he loved to ride in the backseat even if it was just a short drive to the in laws.
The last 6 months or so we noticed he was spending more time sleeping than normal, and figured he was just getting older. The first of October he was limping, so we took him in where he displayed no signs of lameness. He got some meds for 2 weeks, and was fine during that time, but as soon as he ran out he was limping again. Back to the vet where an xray confirmed it...osteosarcoma. 1 to 6 months.
He was doing pretty good with pain meds up until Thanksgiving afternoon when he started limping badly again. When he wasnt helping us with our turkey dinner he was resting. Over the weekend it became apparent his leg was really bothering him and he was struggling with normal activities. We ended up deciding over the weekend that today would be the day. We didnt see the point in him suffering with pain any longer especially since it was going to get much worse.
He and I took our final walk this morning before the trip to the vet. It was heart wrenching.
He passed in our arms around 10am.
He will be greatly missed. Such a huge personality like his will leave a void for sure, but time will heal all wounds I suppose.
