My hubby and I are going through a different type of exhaustion than the usual tiredness of doing too much "stuff" in too little time.  We are emotionally exhausted from having to put one of our senior special needs dogs down late Monday afternoon, our "Moose" who we often called THE Moose man. We named him Moose because he was small for a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (males can weigh around 150 or more and females around 125).

As any animal loving person knows, it is always too soon to say goodbye to any of the sweet, furry, 4-legged, 2-legged or whatever kind of animal souls we are blessed to share life with.  And this is true no matter how many years you had together.

The Moose man beat all the odds since he joined our family as an 8 week old pup almost 10 years ago. He should have died at birth or soon after -- but didn't thanks to a caring and compassionate breeder who bottle-fed him for weeks (she also has become one my closest, dearest friends ever - thanks for being you, Pat!).  Pat reached out to us when he was ready for a forever home because she knew that we would likely open our hearts and home to Moose in spite of his defect and some of the challenges that came with it.  We did just that and yes, he was on meds his entire life and his runny nose was 24/7 so lots of -- let's just say "stuff" --- to clean up behind wherever Moose went.  But!  Believe me -- Moose always gave us back far, far more than we could ever give or do for him. Snotty nose or not, he gave us his loyalty, lots of laughs, a slew of life lessons and pure sweetness every day of his 9 1/2 years. 

Our vets through the years were sure Moose would be gone long before now from asphyxiating and resultant pneumonia due to his palate hole. Moose had other plans, however -- it would take something far bigger than a palate hole to bring him down.  Sadly, it finally did when we learned just a few days ago that he had huge cancerous tumors in his sweet heart and stomach.

Heavens what our animals can teach us all about determination, sense of humor, loyalty, courage and so much more. It's an empty feeling without our boy in our crazy, but loving household of 4 dogs (now 3) and 2 cats. All of his buddies are grieving and they visit his grave every time they go outside. On the bright side, we also smile everytime we look at our two den recliners, both of which Moose considered HIS recliners (and they were indeed - with four dogs in our small log home, we are just grateful for having lodging and dining privileges in the midst of our ever-entertaining little zoo.🤪

Thanks for letting me ramble as I share this moment with you - it's one of my ways of dealing with the hole in my heart with Moose's crossing Rainbow Bridge. It is my hope that all of us share lots of smiles with lots of folks every single day and that we receive lots of them too. We all need more of them in our lives! And, I pray that my legacy is that I can still bring a smile (or laugh) to anyone's heart and face that may be thinking of me when I am gone from this earth. Thanks, Moose man for all the smiles you brought into our lives and all you will continue bringing with each thought of you and every time we pass by or sit in one of YOUR recliners!🐾🌻🐾

P.S. To the Moose Man --- You deserve far more recognition (IMHO) than one of my blog posts, ol' boy -- just hoping it will encourage our readers to at least give an extra big hug or two to the furry souls in their family.

About the author 

Nancy Byerly Jones

Nancy Byerly Jones and her husband reside on their mountainside ranch (“Little Hee Haw Farm”) with an energetic “family” of horses, donkeys (large and miniature), dogs and cats. Their favorite pastime is sharing the joy and fun of their animals and ranch life with their family, friends and clients.

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