It was August of 2003. Our daughter and grandchildren were here for a visit. We had been out shopping all day – sans husband – and when we were nearly home I got a call from my husband, who was at home, to ask when we would be there. We were 10 minutes away and he said ok. He sounded like he was out of breath.

Upon arriving home, I found out that our darling Yellow Lab, Cara, had gone out into the back yard and simply died. She was 12 years old and had had a good, full life. We had other dogs, including my Chocolate Lab Brandy, but Cara was always Bob’s dog…always…his soul mate, as Brandy was mine. Bob could not deal with her loss and decided he wanted another Yellow Lab right away –  the hole in his heart was vast and needed to be filled. He went to the newspaper (amazing to recall we actually subscribed to a newspaper once upon a time!) and found only one female Yellow Labrador puppy available and she was 3 hours away! Bob didn’t care.

As it turned out,  the breeder was willing to drive to a town closer to us as they had a male puppy to show someone else who lived as far away as we but in a different direction. The chosen location was half-way for everyone. Bob drove up to meet the people and see the puppy…and brought her home…no “deciding” involved. She was adorable! Bob called her “Cara” which I felt that was a mistake. We all need our own identity…besides, it didn’t fit. But, she was getting used to the sound so we changed it to “Sara” and I chose the middle name of my Hawaiian born Cocker Spaniel of years prior to come up with her registered name of Sara Laiea.

Sara was a darling from the get-go. In good Lab tradition, food was a serious priority! I am sure she could hear a hot knife slice through a chocolate cake from the other end of the house! She was very loving and very playful. And she was good about chewing, too. When Cara was a puppy, she chewed everything inside the house…When Brandy was a puppy, she chewed everything outside the house…but Sara not so much. It was rare that she chewed anything that wasn’t hers.  Well, there was this one time. She was, I don’t know, 3 months old? It was a Saturday and I had slept in a bit and Bob was in his office working. Sara was up on the bed with me busy with something. I did the lazy bed making thing of straightening out the covers at the bottom while I was still in it and suddenly I saw it. Bob’s shoe. His $230 a pair shoe..that he had only had two weeks and maybe worn twice…with the heel chewed out.  It was like that scene in The Godfather when the movie director woke up and found the horse’s head under the covers. I hid the shoe and didn’t tell Bob for awhile….hey, I was saving a life here!

Sara loved all the dogs…was good with all the kittens and cats…loved me and loved her Dad.  Sara just loved everybody…especially children. She was excellent at playing catch and for a very, very long time was the fastest of the fast…knew it and liked showing off. She could catch nearly any throw of the ball,  too, and liked to show off. (I only use soft rubber balls…hollow on the inside…somewhat on the small side…safer for teeth!)

Brandy had been the alpha and Molly (our Lab/Golden X) was never alpha but was a bit of a “nanny-nanny-boo-boo” type so, after Brandy left us, we allowed Molly to take charge…and when she left us, Sara had to step up to the plate…and did so very nicely. At that point, we also had the adopted Rat Terrier/Jack Russel X named Jake. But, Sara ruled…loved to ride in the truck…loved to go on walks…lived to play catch…loved life..and tended to get the best of the best. She was spoiled and loved and adored by us. A dog couldn’t ask for a better life!

About 2 1/2 years ago, my husband came upon two just-weaned puppies up on the road near by…a road where people drive very, very fast (this is the country). Actually, one was in the middle of the road. He picked them up and brought them home. We made queries about ownership though it was obvious they were dumped and intended to adopt them out. One is a Kelpie and the other is a McNab. They are pure so don’t know how they ended up dumped! The McNab (Kona) was so injured he could barely walk and I thought maybe he was born with a disability and it was going to be up to us to put him down but it was just an injury and he healed in a few days. The Kelpie (Kai) was fine. After a relatively short time, I was in love with them and we decided to keep them. They were a little bit of competition for Jake at first but he soon became their ring leader!

The “boys”, as we call them, were great fun for Sara…she enjoyed the competition when playing ball. Of course, as they grew and got stronger, Kona was able to outrun her – but not by much. Sadly, one day some months ago, while out playing ball, Kona body-slammed Sara hard from the side. I saw it was going to happen and tried to call him back but to no avail. The impact took out her left knee. She learned to deal with it and continued to play ball but she had to make adjustments. She lost a lot of muscle mass in the left haunch but life continued to be good for her and she was a happy puppy.

A bit ago…not sure when it actually started…I noticed atrophy in the right side leg…that’s what it seemed to be, anyway.  In an effort to keep the boys from body slamming her when we went out to feed horses (all puppies were left in the yard), I was keeping Sara in the house. So, maybe she needed more exercise. We started letting her come out alone with us to feed…and took her for walks up the lane by herself….all in an effort to built up the muscle in her good side. Then, suddenly, she started throwing up her meals…in the house…in the yard..just every now and then. Whoa. Huh?  Then she stopped eating her food at all. We bought a different kind  but there as no interest. I tried canned food and that was good briefly, then not interested. Sweet potatoes and broccoli (sweet potatoes are loaded with nutrients)were next and she ate that for a week..then wouldn’t. And she was still vomiting her food sometimes. She drank a lot of water as usual…potty behavior was good…but obviously something was wrong. We even dosed her a couple of times with Kaolin in case she had an upset stomach but it made no difference. Now we were really noticing how thin she was getting…really thin. She was alert. She wagged her tail. She acted as if interested in food but would then turn her head when presented. Sometimes she would eat canned cat food or her dog biscuits if broken into really small pieces.  But, as with whatever, there was a chance she’d throw it up later.

We took Sara to the vet and had a blood panel and urinalysis run. It was not good. I had the vet fax it to me and I researched all the flagged issues. All pointed to renal failure…and many of the pertinent areas were really, really high…putting her into the “acute” category. We talked to the vet…we sent the reports to another vet and talked to him. The consensus was she did not have much time…and the next stage of the toxicity would make her disoriented. I didn’t want her to get to that point. Bob told me to just stay in the house with her all day on Saturday.  I made a place next to her on the floor…catered to her any need…walked her…fed her when she would eat…watered her…and lay next to her while she slept. There were parts of her behavior that were so normal… but, there were other aspects that were, of course, not. I noticed the sadness in her eyes that day…not really pain, but sadness. Sara lived to eat and could not. She lived to run and play, and could not. Her stomach was nauseated.  She was a big dog and was now a walking skeleton, weighing only slightly over 50 lbs.(to her usual 63). There is no cure for kidney damage and failure. There is no fix. All the money in the world cannot change that. And, what was going on with her was a rapidly progressive attack on her body.

I spent that close time with my sweetie and came to the realization in about the middle of the day that I had to be a responsible care taker and help her – that it was all about her and not about me. And as much as I didn’t want to let her go, I had to….for her sake. Sara was suffering and was only going to get worse.  We made the call to our equine vet to come over. It was late in the day on Saturday when he was finally able to get back to us (he has a mobile practice) and was going to come over then. However, it was too late…selfish, I know…but I had already “pushed it off’ ” to the next day. I just couldn’t emotionally prepare again. And, it gave me another night with my Sara.

The tears haven’t stopped, the heart ache has not gone away but we are comforted in the knowledge that we did the right thing by Sara…and she is all that matters. God is taking good care of her.  A good friend reminded me of  “The Rainbow Bridge” (author unknown). In this prose, you are reminded that our beloved pets go to the Rainbow Bridge where the land is open and beautiful and they are healed and/or restored to health and vigor…and there they will be waiting for us…to cross the Rainbow Bridge together…“You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.”