Viti

Oh Rick....I wish I could have met him. I'm so sorry.

Here's some quotes that made me feel better recently...when I felt the loss was greater than the reward it hurt so bad.

"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons."
~James Thurber

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."
~Roger Caras

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it." - Abraham Lincoln

"If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience."
~Woodrow Wilson

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"
~Unknown

Hedwig

I'm so sorry for your loss, Dr. Rick. He was very lucky to have such a loving parent. He's one of the most handsome dogs I've ever seen.

Rest in peace, beautiful Forrest.

Sol

Dr. Rick, your tribute to your much beloved pet is especially poignant. I'm spending a last few days with my special gal, Chelsea. She's much smaller, but has just as large a heart. Going on 13 with cancer, I've also chosen not to see her suffer. She has never let me down, has been there through thick and thin. I owe her all the same.

vicesboy

Hello Dr. Rick,

You don't know me, but I am Lady Shea's husband. We lost our 'big bear' Shea, in February. He was the first dog I had ever 'bonded' with in that special way. He was the first dog that was ever 'my buddy'.

I still cried when thinking of him, months later. Still got choked up when I came across a toy, or saw his collar. We too had to make the decision to let him go.

I grieve with you, it's not often we have something in our lifes that touches us so deeply, or so powerfully.

Keep him in your heart, keep him in your mind. Keep all those special moments you two shared. No one, nothing can ever take them away from you!!!

My thoughts are with you.

vicesboy

scigirl

So sorry to hear about Forrest, Rick. One of the guys in our class trains a search and rescue dog, and we have all adopted him as our mascot. I can imagine that losing a special dog like that - or any pet, really - is a tough one to deal with.

((hugs))

scigirl

Opera Nut

Oh Rick, you're making me cry, just looking at you and Forrest.

Dogs are so special and so are dog people.

Sniff!! Cry!! Agghhhh.........

I'm a sucker for a dog story, and I've always been a dog person.

Bonding score: Three.

One beautiful gorgeous purebred collie stray, when I was a kid.

Two sweet little cockers that were my boyfriend's dogs. I bonded with them, saved their lives from a massive septicemia from fleas with my amateur doctoring when we didn't have $1500 for a vet. One of them who was a runt named Cain (he slew his brother) with esophageal reflux, died in 1998.
The other one, his sister Sera, died of heart failure last fall in November of 2002.


Sniff.

Dr Rick

Thanks to everyone for your support here and via PM; I miss my boy so much, but you all have made me feel better.

Forrest was 8 and 1/2, btw.

Sol, I 'm sorry to learn that you're going through the same thing with Chelsea; be sure to give her an extra hug for me.

Cipher Girl

Hi Dr Rick

Sorry to hear of the loss of your very beautiful dog. Sounds like he was a very special animal (aren't they all). I lost my Kitty in January of this year. Put him to sleep as he was in the last stages of terminal kidney failure.

Majestyk

My condolences, Dr. Rick.

There's nothing else in the world like the unconditional love that dogs and children give. Which makes the loss a painful experience.

Time heals. Loss subsides. The memory of having experienced Forrest's love will be with you always.

Be well.

Kthulhu

Sorry to hear about your loss and you have my sincerest condolences.

Why dogs are man's best friend

~The Thing That Should Not Be