Our Sweet Pup

We had a wonderful 2015 but on December 30th we received news that our sweet dog Jasper passed away at the kennel while we were on vacation.

It was heartbreaking and so terrible to hear that news from a far.  We felt so much guilt that we hadn't been there with her and that she had been alone.  However, we are beyond thankful we had 10 amazing years with her.  She was aging but she was still full of energy.  We are also grateful we got the best years of her. She wasn't sick or lethargic. Our kids didn't have to see her age.  Ultimately we are also thankful we didn't have to make a hard choice.  We always knew it would be an impossible choice to one day say goodbye to her and that decision was taken from us.

Jasper died of something called bloat.  It's when a dog inhales too much air while eating or drinking.  Their stomach can become bloated and ultimately twist.  Often this happens in the middle of the night as is what happened to Jasper.  If the dog doesn't receive emergency surgery within a couple of hours they will die.  The kennel said goodnight to her healthy and returned in the morning to find she had passed away.

There is still such a hole in our home.  Our children miss her like crazy and crave attention from any dog we meet.  Eliza prays for her every night and wants to ask God to give her a milkbone.  A few days ago she told me that she just misses her and was wondering when she was going to return from Heaven to live with us again.  Eliza was probably the closest to Jasper.  They just loved each other.  Eliza's Sunday school teacher pulled me aside with tears in her eyes shortly after we lost Jasper and said that Eliza had stood up in class and asked for prayers for her family as we were all just so sad.  What a sweet heart that girl has. 

Jasper was just a perfect dog for us.  She was really so good.  Her worst fault is she loved people too much and would get overly excited when people came to the house and she loved baked goods too much (more than once Costco muffins disappeared from our counter)

In hindsight we can see that God was preparing us to say goodbye to her before we left for Florida.  So many things were done that were out of the ordinary that we can look back on and see in a way we said goodbye not knowing we were doing so.  

The day before we left we decided that we would all give extra attention to her.  She got treats and snuggles every couple hours from us all.  She was given her new Christmas toys and we played with her with them.  We all took her for a walk and despite the fact it was freezing and rainy we all went the long way.  She sat up front with me while I drove her to the kennel and I patted her the whole drive.  At the kennel in the past they would always just grab her (they knew her well) and take her back however this time I was different.  I held that sweet dogs face in my hands and gave her a proper goodbye.  Kissing her and telling her she was such a good dog and that we all loved her very much.  I had no clue at the time it was a forever goodbye.  

People ask if we are going to get another dog.  Maybe one day but for now we are just remember her and how amazing she was.  I'm not sure we could find another dog that was so good for our family.  We miss you sweet Jasper. 

She was so good with the kids.  She let them climb all over her.

The last picture we had of our girl

One of my favorite pictures of my girls

Sam's teacher gifted him this sweet stuffed puppy after hearing we lost Jasper.  How sweet.  All three kids love this gal and take turns sleeping with her at night.