Pet Blogging

I cried the whole time I was putting this together for geg6.  ~ WaterGirl

RIP Koda, the Balloon Juice Pup

by geg6

Here we go, hopefully not through my tears.

Last night, my John, Lovey and I said goodbye to our Koda for the last time. I decided to let everyone at Balloon Juice know because our Koda is also Balloon Juice’s Koda because we would not have had that wonderful dog if not for Balloon Juice.

That picture on a rescue bleg here on Balloon Juice is what started it all. Look at her! Adorable! I had to have her! BUT…she was in Santa Monica, CA and I am in Pittsburgh, PA. It would be impossible. Except this happened on Balloon Juice, where rescue miracles happen. Turns out that just commenting that I would love to adopt her set the wheels in motion. And before we knew it, funds had been raised, plane ticket had been purchased and Koda was winging her way to us. And John and I knew that Koda would always be partially owned by jackals.

From the moment they wheeled her out to us at the airport, we knew she was a special dog. And in all of these years, she has proven that over and over again. She came into our house and instantly made friends with our old golden, Otis.

When Otis left us, she was lonely and another pup was up for adoption on Balloon Juice a year later. Lovey came to us and Koda was like the big sister with an annoying little sister. Patient and sweet and always tolerant of Lovey, even when Lovey didn’t deserve it.

 

One of Lovey’s favorite things to show affection to Koda was to lick her ears and Koda always loved that. But Lovey has a bit of an attitude and, believe it or not, she would try to bully Koda. Koda always took that with grace and, if Lovey finally went too far, Koda would put a big paw on her and hold her down until she calmed down.

She had the best personality, always happy, never grumbling, eating everything she could get, thrilled to ride in the car. She loved to have her ears scratched and to rub her head in my lap. She slept with us in bed until she got too old to jump up. We got stairs for her but she never liked stairs and was just as happy to lay next to the bed where one of us could reach down and pet her. She loved to travel, going to Florida with us and even driving down to West Virginia to visit our blogfather.

Over the last year or so, her hips started to really cause her problems, as is pretty typical of older larger dogs like Labs. The vet told us to give her Cosequin and dog aspirins and that all worked for a while. But about a month ago, she started not being able to get up by herself and that got progressively worse until the last week or so when she seriously injured her foot trying to get up by herself.

We called the vet and had a visit, which was exhausting for us all. Koda, because of the pain, and for us, because she weighted 86 pounds and that’s a lot for two geezers like us to lift into and out of the car and house. Basically, it’s as I expected. She was an old, big dog who was basically healthy (no cancer or heart issues) but who was at the end of her life.

The vet told us to take her home, make her comfortable and that she would let us know when it was time. And that time came over this past weekend. You could see the pain in her eyes and she wasn’t even enthusiastic about her food or treats (though she always ate them!). We called and made an appointment with the traveling vet and she came last night.

I held Koda’s head in my lap and one paw in my hand and John held her other paw. Lovey would not stay away quietly, so we let her in and she came over and started licking Koda’s ears as the vet gave the anesthesia and put in the IV. She went to sleep surrounded by all who loved her most.

I cannot express how grateful I am to all the jackals who allowed her to come to us. I wish you all could have known her. You would have loved her as much as we did. Goodbye sweet Koda, my heart dog and the Balloon Juice. Pup.

RIP Koda, the Balloon Juice PupPost + Comments (94)