Bye-bye Brodie

Yesterday was a really tough day. Yesterday we had to say to goodbye to our 9 1/2 year old dog Brodie. 

About 5 weeks ago he was diagnosed with lymphoma with an estimated 1-2 months to live. So we brought him home wondering how it would go. But he was still Brodie. A little more tired and much more spoiled but still very himself. Over the last few weeks Brodie lost weight and in addition to the extra tiredness he was also having some trouble eating (due to the swollen lymph nodes in his neck). Sunday, still in good spirits, Brodie gobbled an ice cream - his favorite treat - and a can of dog food which I'd bought because his dry food was giving him a problem. But yesterday he had just taken a bad turn.

I was worried that we wouldn't know when it was time. I was worried that we'd be the people that let their dog hang on too long because they can't let go. But one look at that face yesterday and we both knew that Brodie was telling us it was time.

Brodie was our pre-baby baby. Brodie hated to ride in the car, hated to swim, had very little manners and preferred to drink running water (out of the sink). We were worried when we had Grant that Brodie would react badly. But it was quite the opposite...he just sort of stayed away. Until he couldn't anymore and just had to be around Grant. And then they became friends. Brodie was so good with Grant that it amazed me. I managed to catch some pictures of some really sweet moments that made love Brodie even more.

Sharing a popsicle

Hugs

 

Two nosey guys checking out the neighborhood

Joint napping session

More hugs

And lets forget kisses too.

I loved watching those two interact. It was great seeing Brodie's transition from wanting nothing to do with Grant into being a "big brother". And it's really sad today answering Grant's questions of "Where's Brodie?" or "Oh! Where his bowl go?" but I'm dealing with it and Grant seems to be understanding that Brodie isn't coming home :(

The loss of a pet is so difficult. It always breaks my heart when I hear of other people going through it and so many people have expressed sympathy over what we're going through. Brodie wasn't just a dog, he was family and it takes time to get over a loss like that. Husband and I have been together for 11 years so very little of our time together has been without Brodie. We're going to miss that boy, especially our night time cuddles!