Koda

Koda was my love. It was him and me, always together. I moved from Los Angeles to Oregon in 2009 and bought my property especially with him in mind. There were acres of land and hills for him to run and explore and he always wanted to be outside and running the fence line to keep critters away. When I brought a new puppy home in 2012, he welcomed the pup but he was already 6 and sometimes had a hard time keeping up with the new little one. Yes, I could see his face aging and it made me sad but he still was my heart dog and I spent all my time with the dogs since I was retired. They went with me every day to run errands, loving the car rides. In October, 2014, the dogs were outside playing when Koda came in and I knew something was wrong. He couldn't lay down, he was restless and just wasn't himself. I took him immediately to the vet and had to be coaxed into getting out of the car and even walking. After an ultrasound, I was told that Koda had a large tumor around his heart and even if the vet tried to remove some of the fluid surrounding it, he might not last one more day. At this point, Koda had to be carried since he couldn't walk or move. Hard decision but putting him to sleep was the only option left. Still think about him every day, even though I have a new puppy and my two dogs are my whole life - Koda will always be with us.