As many of you now know, we had to say goodbye to our Zeus this week. It was incredibly hard to do, but it was even harder to watch him try and get around when he was clearly in so much pain.

Last week, I noticed he was starting to limp a little bit later in the day. He would do okay on his morning walks, but as the day went on, he would limp just a little bit more each day. I thought it was his bad leg giving him a hard time, that he was sore and just needed to stretch it out a bit. We kept an eye on him, but nothing was too alarming just yet.

I went to stay with Molly and Tanner at Tanner’s farm last weekend and while I was there my mom returned from a week trip to Philly. She had texted me Sunday night asking if Zeus had been limping a lot before I left for the weekend, because he was now having a difficult time walking altogether, and didn’t even want to go on his morning walks — something VERY unlike Zeus. By Monday, he wasn’t going on his walks anymore, and we didn’t even put him in his outside kennel. He only went outside to go to the bathroom. I hung out with him inside, and we had a lazy day as I tried to comfort him.

By Tuesday, it was clear something was very wrong. It wasn’t just his bad leg giving him a bad time, because he was having a difficult time standing on either of his hind legs. He showed very little interest in what was going on around him, and barely moved. I even let him out to go to the bathroom later in the afternoon, and after a few minutes he got so tired he had to lay down, and then he refused to move. I sat with him for a few minutes until I was able to coax him back inside, and once he was inside, he didn’t move until he had to go back outside again before bed.

That continued on Wednesday as well. He picked a spot and laid down and he wouldn’t move the whole day. Whenever I walked up to him to check on him, he wouldn’t even lift his head to see me. It killed me to see him like that. He was always so energetic and excited to see us, but now he just had no energy to give. I sat with him the rest of the night until bed because I knew we were going to the vet the next morning, and I had no idea what they were going to say.

Before we got to the vet on Thursday, my dad told us to be prepared for the worst, because this was much different than how he was last year when he hurt his leg. Turns out, it was a huge deal. We got some X-rays taken, and found out the bones in his spine were narrowing, and were crushing his spinal chord. This can’t be cured in a dog, and if we didn’t do anything, Zeus would soon be paralyzed. We refused to put him through that. It was clear he was in so much pain already, and we couldn’t put him through more. We said our goodbyes, and Zeus crossed the rainbow bridge to join Buddy and Shelby up in doggy heaven. It was such a hard morning, and I still can’t quite believe he’s gone. He may not have been the most snuggly dog, or the best around strangers, but he was good to his family, and he would have died trying to protect any of us.

He was a good dog, and I’ll always have a place for him in my heart. I always looked forward to seeing him whenever I came home from VA, and I loved spending everyday with him since I’ve moved back to SD. I so wish we could have had more time with him, but I’m glad he’s pain free and in a better place now.

The one good thing that came out of all of this, was that my parents lasted less than 24 hours before they missed having a dog around, and we brought home a new puppy. Molly, Nick and I went to Dell Rapids today to pick her up, and she is super sweet. Her name is Dakota, and we love her so much already. Nobody will replace Zeus. It’s impossible to fill those big paws. But Dakota will help to fill the void. She’s already a huge snuggler, which is a plus for us 🙂

All in all, it has been a difficult week. I woke up this morning expecting to see Zeus, and was sad when I remembered what happened. I’ll always miss him, and like I said, Dakota can’t replace him; but I’m never not going to agree to a new puppy. I look forward to spending more time with her and having her a part of our family. 🙂

Until next time!

Megan Reiffenberger