Sweet Jaxy boy

We're so sad. We had to say goodbye to sweet Jaxy Boy, our Buddy. He was such a good, good, good dog. 

Unfortunately he was diagnosed with doggie dementia which wouldn't be such a bad thing if it wasn't causing him to be aggressive. He snapped at us and the girls a couple of times and we saw a decline in his general being: no longer enjoyed being in the backyard, peed in the house, spent awake time staring at walls, took little interest in us most of the time--he didn't even greet us at the door anymore. 

It was a really hard decision for us to make, but we felt like it was the right thing to do to protect the kids and to prevent something terrible from happening when he inevitably continued to decline cognitively. He lived a long life; almost ten years with us! And we'd guess him to be about 15 years old. So we take solace in his long, happy life. 

When we told Sofia lshe was very sad and cried, but she asked a lot of questions and has seen it coming since we had told her he'd likely be going to Heaven soon. She thinks the first person he'll run to is Grandpa!

We took him one last time to a big field off Allen Parkway to roam around in and fed him mini bagel dogs. It was a nice memory for us all and it's where I took this photo of him. 

Sofia sent along a stuffed animal to comfort him at the vet. Dan took him and he went peacefully. But it was admittedly one of the hardest things we've ever had to do. We definitely miss that sweet boy but feel some relief in the house now, not worrying about him or the kids, but we were heartbroken to let him go. He was there when we brought our babies home. His fluffy tail encouraged them both to crawl--they wanted to grab it. He would let Sofia hang on to his back while she learned to walk. And most importantly, he taught them how to love animals. 

Bye bye, Buddy Boy! We will miss you.