Our Three Dogs

Joe is out Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever mix. We figure that he is at least 13 years old. Our black dog is Colby, we call him our Heinz 57 dog. He is a mix of several different breeds. The prominent breed would be Border Collie. Colby is about 7 or 8 years old, (we can't quite pinpoint when my sister Bekah & I picked him up from a gas station in the corner of Arizona, between Vegas and St. George). Then there is Rufus our 9 month old Pug. He is the only purebred dog I have owned. Growing up, my family always adopted those mutts that became beloved members of our family. Now my brothers and sisters all have purebreds of different varieties. Even Mom & Dad own a couple of their own :0)

I wanted to post this picture of our dogs, in the garage, after Joe had a bath. We are faced with needing to put Joe down very soon. He has gotten so old that he only gets up when he eats, needs a drink and answer nature's call. As it gets colder, he gets 'stuck' and we need to lift him to get his feet below his body. His aspirin two times a day help quite a bit, but it just doesn't help him get on his feet. It is a hard decision to make, but we are holding on for our own comfort at this point. We would like to wait until after the Holidays, but we will see what Joe's health will dictate.

We have loved and cherished Joe Joe. As with any big dog, he was always in the way. What is it with big dogs? They always find the tightest, smallest and most inconvenient places to lie down. He has stolen his fair share of food from the dinner table or counters. Escaped many times from our yards to explore the nearby homes and parks. He is always gentle and doesn't mind when the 'Animal Warden' approaches him to return him home. His partner in crime has always been Colby. Colby is never quite ready to come home and tends to get aggressive with the 'Warden'. The two of them have been very close buddies since Colby joined our family. We expect that Colby will go thru some considerable grieving when Joe is gone. Rufus will also grieve a bit. At least they will have each other and the pain will pass.