Crossing the Rainbow Bridge

At 10:10am this morning Derek and I said our final goodbye to our old girl. Our 'first born' and the one who has been with Derek and I all but 6 weeks of our entire relationship. As much as it was a tough decision to make, it was just time and we knew it had to be done. She was 12.5 years old and her quality of life had diminished quite a bit over the past year. The hip dysplasia was hindering her ability to stand and walk and even in the past few days it took a big toll on her body. Her kidney issues were leading to excessive water drinking and led her to lose around 16 pounds in under 3 months. She also lost quite a lot of her bladder control and seemed depressed to us. We couldn't stand to see her fall again and it was quite sad to not see her wag her tail anymore. We decided last week that we didn't want to drag out her life until she was in constant discomfort and that it would break our hearts if she passed in a painful way. So the appointment was made.

To give a brief story of her life, she was rescued in 2002 in Lawrence, Kansas where Derek and I were attending the University of Kansas. We were seniors and I volunteered at the Humane Society weekly. I would often drag Derek along with me and after a couple visits with her and her brother, we knew we wanted to adopt her. So we did it. And we changed her name from Rue to Lacy. (This was after only 6 weeks of dating and needless to say, our parents weren't too happy). Anyway, Derek was the president of his fraternity so he had his own room. She lived there for 3 months until he moved at semester to an apartment. Hey, you don't always make the best choices in college, right?!

She was the most adorable puppy though and really was a wonderful dog. She crate trained quickly, was very smart and always was a calm pup who enjoyed sleeping in bed with us. 

After graduation we moved to Jacksonville, Florida for a year where she loved being our "baby". And I mean, like for realz. Over the next 8 years we treated her like our kid and she was our entire world. Heck, she even helped Derek propose by wearing the diamond ring around her neck!

She LOVED the sun and would sunbathe with me whenever possible. She never really played with dog toys but walks were her thing. If she heard her leash move, she would spring up and run to you beyond excited to go on a walk.

In 2007 we thought she was bored at home all day and therefore rescued another lab mix from a different shelter. Lacy took Bailey under her wings and was the best older sister ever.

My parents even bought us a professional portrait session in 2009 because they knew these dogs were our everything.

These two videos show how happy and healthy she was earlier in life and although blurry, I love them! 

When Drew was born I knew there was no worry of having her (and Bailey) in the house and I was right. Same with Ady. She loved those kids and would let Drew do anything to her. Sure she'd sometimes get bitchy with other dogs if they sniffed her butt at the park, but she loved people and would always offer her paw to rub. Weird, we know, but that dog LOVED her paws being rubbed.

In total she lived in about 8 different homes in 3 different states and never had any issues transitioning. 

We will miss you sweet girl. Even though you were quite a handful over the past few months and annoyed the crap out of me from time to time, I will still miss you deeply. Despite your stinky breath and constant shedding, it was still hard to make this decision but we know you are happier now. As our 'first born', you will always hold a special place in my heart.

We hope you enjoyed your walks this week as well as your McDonalds cheeseburger, peanut butter bone and ice cream treat yesterday. I know you're in heaven playing with all of your friends and eating pacifiers/bottles to your hearts desire. I will never forget you sweet girl. Never.

Goodbye my old girl.
I hope you'll find me in heaven someday.