Goodbye Lil' Stout

Yesterday I saw that a friend was going to have to put their dog down because of kidney failure.  I emailed her that I could not imagine what she was going through and little did I know about 12 hours later we would be doing the same thing.  We have had two wonderful dogs; first came Gustav, our beloved German Shepherd in 2004 and in 2006 we decided that he needed a playmate and a playmate is what he got.  We "rescued" a spaniel/lab mixed puppy.  We name him Guinness Stout, called him Stout, because he looked so dark brown that at times it appeared black and had a nice white "foamy" patch on his neck. 

He's been the happiest dog I think I've ever encountered and he brought so much joy to our lives. Some of our greatest memories I think will be recent as Steven had grown so fond of Stout.  One of Steven's favorite things to do was to chase Stout around the house with a duck puppet saying "quack, quack." 

This morning around 3:30 we heard him distressed, so I got up to see what was the matter.  After a few minutes I realized he couldn't get up and was paralyzed in his hind quarters.  Chad and I spent the next several hours comforting our sweet Stout knowing what was probably to come.  He was so loving and just wanted us there with him.  When Steven woke up and we told him Stout was hurt he said, "oh no, Stout hurt, give him some chocolate milk!"  He was so sweet in petting him and knew it wasn't the time to try and chase Stout.  He even brought pieces of food over to Stout and said "here you go, thank you, you're welcome" as if he was carrying on a full conversation with Stout.  After many tears, Chad took him to the vet and they confirmed that even if we spent thousands of dollars there was no guarantee of any improvement. 

The house is very somber without our precious Stout and it'll be a while before Steven quits calling him to come and "get yours Stout" when its feeding time; or telling him to get out of the living room; and every time he does it breaks my heart because Stout isn't in there to be told to get out.