Keeley's last days

 I had Keeley put to sleep on Sunday evening.  He had an aggressive cancer.  The tumor was wrapped around the inside and outside of his jaw bone and up into his ear.  It caused him intense pain to open his mouth.  For the last 6 weeks he had begun using his mouth less and less and the muscles in his head and face were going through atrophy.  I was giving him only soft foods because it was obvious that anything that required chewing hurt him.  In the past 3 weeks he started getting lethargic and antisocial - just not acting like himself.  He stopped barking or even growling.  At first we thought it was myositis, but the blood test results were negative.  Then last Thursday he had an MRI and got the cancer diagnosis.  He went downhill super fast.  He just looked so sad.  There was talk about removing his jaw bone, but to me that sounded barbaric and there would still be the tumor that was in his ear.  So that's why I made the decision to put him to sleep.

I tried to make his last 2 days as nice as possible.  On Saturday we took him to the beach since Keeley always loved the beach.  He did perk up a bit when we started getting close to the lake, but for the most part he just wasn't feeling it.

Then we took him to Dairy Queen.  His eyes did get wide when he saw me get into the car with ice cream, but he never even sat up or anything.

The rest of the day we just lay around and napped together.  He definitely wanted me with him but he looked really sad all day.

Then on Sunday, he woke up feeling pretty good.  He seemed very alert or at least more so than he'd been for the last couple of weeks.  We took him to Lake Park and he loved that.  He was eager to walk all around.  It was the most I'd seen him move all week.

We went on the trail and across bridges and cut across fields.  He wanted to keep going too, but I was worried about him over-doing it.

It was a beautiful day and we just sat and enjoyed it for a while before going to Arby's (another treat for Keeley).

He was feeling so good that when we got home, we went for another walk with Teagan.  He was acting almost like his old self again.  He hung out for a while on the balcony too since he likes to keep an eye on all the goings on.

We took a short nap together on the sectional.  I pet him lots and sang him his puppy song.

And we spent his last hour hanging out together outside.  Weather wise, it was just the kind of day that Keeley liked:  warm but not too warm, with low humidity, and some nice wind blowing right up the driveway bringing all the scents in the neighborhood right to his nose.

Since the day had gone so well, I started having second thoughts, but decided it was best to go out on a good note.  During the work week I wouldn't be able to spend much time with him and he wouldn't be happy with that.  I'm glad I had this last good day with him.  

We went with www.petlossathome.com because I figured Teagan needed to see Keeley to understand it.  But even so, I'm not sure if she really understands.  I guess maybe in her own way she gets it.  I don't know.  Sometimes it seems like she looks for him.  She really depended on him for so much.  I'm worried about her.

And I miss Keeley so much.  I am so completely heartbroken.  He was my baby.  And he was just so so very good.  I can't imagine that another dog could ever compare to him.  Just when I think I'm done crying, something will set me off.  Like, I opened up the dishwasher to put the clean dishes away and I thought that I have way too many doggie dishes now and I started crying.  Or today 4 condolence cards came in the mail.  I read the first 2 and was fine, but I started sniffling at the third, and by the fourth one, I was in tears.

I just picked up his ashes today and I thought that would give me closure, but I was crying again.  I guess that's just how its going to be for a while.  It all just happened so fast and I really expected to have several more years with him.  He was only 9 years old.  He was just the greatest little dog-boy!  And now I don't know what to do with myself - I don't really feel like doing anything.  I'm so lousy at dealing with stuff like this.

Happy New Year from Keeley & Teagan

Here they are at the doggie park this morning.  Running around and being silly dogs.  Keeley is still a play-baby even though he's almost 9 years old.

Teagan loves to eat frozen sticks.  It's troublesome because what goes in must come out at some point.

There's Keeley with his Grandpa.  There weren't any critters for the dogs to hunt today because it's too cold out.

Final Kill Count for 2014

Well, being the last day of 2014, I'm going to report on my terriers' kill count for 2014.  The final number ended up being 12 critters killed this year by Teagan and Keeley.  Actually Teagan is the one who did the actual killing (I think she's at her killing prime right now!) but Keeley gave her an assist on at least 5 of those kills.  This year she got 2 squirrels, a woodchuck, 2 opossums, a mouse, a robin, and 5 rabbits.  For the most part, I think kids are grosser than dogs.  But when I have to clean up dead things, then I think dogs are definitely the grosser of the two!

Sleeping with dogs

I'm not sure if Keeley knows he's a dog.  He always wants to sleep right next to me with his head on a pillow like a human.  He's only 38 pounds but he sure can hog the bed somehow.

impromptu trip to Lapham Peak

Weekends at the dog park

Teagan & The Babies

You may remember that Teagan used to be horribly scared of kids.

During the first 2 years with her, there were talks about giving her up because she couldn't seem to control her aggression.

She just had her 5th Birthday last month and she's really come a long way!

When I first started my daycare 2 years ago, it only took Teagan about a week to adjust to this new reality of having kids around 5 days per week.  But she didn't really want to be around them, so she'd often go hide in my bedroom or her crate for most of the day.  At the time I thought that was so amazing but I never thought I'd see her doing what she does now.

Now she takes naps on the sofa with 3 babies playing loudly right next to her.  They reach for her and she doesn't run away.  She lets them crawl right up to her lying on the floor and examine her doggie tags.  It's blowing my mind! I'm totally impressed with how mature and calm she's become!

St Pat's & Happy 8th Birthday to Keeley

I got this book called "Hooray for St Patrick's Day!" by Joan Holub from the library for my daycare kids.  They loved it.  They had to find the leprechaun hiding on each page and it was also a lift-the-flap book.  But the best part was that it featured an Irish Terrier dog like Keeley.  Here are a few of the IT illustrations from the book.  Enjoy & Happy St Patrick's Day (& Keeley's Birthday today too)!

Nice warm day, new sweaters, doggie park, etc.

Well, here are my fur-babies showing off their new sweaters at the doggie park today.  I think Keeley looks really smart in his, and Teagan looks cute but a little lesbian-ish.

Pops is a little embarrassed from walking around with my dogs wearing dog-clothes, but I think they look great and everyone kept saying how cute they were in their sweaters.

It was a nice warm day (about 35 degrees) so we went to the expanded doggie park at Currie Park.  I know it looks like they were the only dogs there from these pictures, but it was actually pretty crowded being a Saturday and all.

Teagan was on her best behavior. She really dislikes being around other dogs, and it doesn't help that she does all these things like roaching around that bring extra attention to her. But she did great today!

Being terriers, of course they had to do a little mousing around.

We gave them an extra amount of time today since it's suppose to get cold again later.  They had a blast and are all tired out now.

Merry Christmas From Keeley & Teagan

My pups got to go to the doggie park at Currie Park for Christmas today.  They had a blast, as usual, running through the trees and meeting other dogs.  It was too cold for them to wear their Christmas outfits or their new sweaters, so they got bundled up in their normal winter attire instead.  Here are a few pictures of them...