On June 19,2019 Duchess gained her wings and left us to cross the rainbow bridge.
I know I haven’t posted in a long time, as her recovery went amazingly well and we were just living our lives! But about 3 days before the 19th, she started acting “funny”. Which in our world means she left about 10 kibbles per meal in her bowl. Which was NOT normal. We investigated by going to the vets and chiropractor. The chiropractor then found something which was blatantly obvious, but somehow we didn’t see. Her tumor recurred. Same spot, much bigger. To us it looked like her shoulder which we forgot she didn’t have anymore. We spent 5yrs looking at a shoulder blade so I guess when it came back it wasn’t so strange to see as a tripawd.
Anyways. We immediately took her back to her amazing surgeons who ran scans and found not only was it back but it had spread and overcome her lungs. We were broken. She was in unmanageable plain. They literally couldn’t get on top of it. That very day, we let her go. One day. We visited her and just couldn’t look at her in that pain and DEFINITELY couldn’t leave her overnight to suffer through our decision time. I bawled for days but we just had to.
I miss her every second of every day. Everything happened on the 19th. February 19 we removed her leg, June 19 she was gone. And July 19 we brought home her cremains. I don’t regret her living as a tripawd for one second tho, because we got 4 AMAZING AND HAPPY months with her. She only suffered her last couple of days.
Anyways, I can’t thank this community enough for the support along the way.
So very, very, very sorry ro rrqd this. So sorry. Stunned. This disease is so brutal, unrelenting, barbaric and we all hate it so much.
As hard as it was to give beautiful Duchess, sweet, beautiful Duchess, the gift of release, it was what she knew you would do when the time can. Duchess knew you loved her enought to make the courageous decision to give her a chance at glorious extended quaility time, and she knew you loved her enough to release her when her quality was compromised. A selfless gift of love can hurt like hell though.
As heartbreaking as this is, and as our tears fall with yours, we continue to celebrate this RockStar dog and all the joy and smiles she gave us all as we traveled the tripawd journey with her. We celebrated when she got her backslash voice back. We celebrated when she greeted you with her toy. And we celebrated her amazing recovery and how she inspired us all by showing big dogs everywhere that they can live life to the fullest in three!
We are all so grateful for rhe privilege, the true privilege, of getting to know this gentle Soul with a Warrior’s attitude.
I hope you can take some comfort in knowing how perfectly you mastered the art of being more dog. You lived in the now, just like Duchess. You made every moment with her rhe best moment ever!!! Those picures all show a content, happy, well .loved dog. I love the one 9f her givi you a big smooch❤
I do hope you will stay connected and share more of Duchess with us. Her legacy of hope, especially fot big dogs, will inspire others starting this journey on so many levels. Oh, and look out for signs from her. She will connect and let you know she is still with you, just in energy form… and ALWAYS nestled in your heart💖
Surrounding you with the eternal l0ve and light of Beautiful Duchess
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie
Thank you so much. And I will definitely share more from her last couple of months as they were incredible months. She truly thrived, even tho it may have been a bit inconvenient for her “need for speed”. We have so many amazing memories and photos/videos that I can share.
Thanks again. Your guidance and support really helped us through recovery and our journey through it all.
Oh noooooo, my heart goes out to you, I am so, so sorry to read this. She was such a beauty, and such a great role model for all Tripawds but especially those gentle giants.
Thank you for sharing her with us, it’s been an honor. Far too short, that’s for sure, but her spirit and the inspawration she provided in this blog will last far longer than her physical presence.
Duchess showed that every day is the best day, and that whether a dog gets four months, years, or whatever, what matters is that they and their human make the most of every moment. Kudos to you for living up to her lessons, you did right by your girl.
We are keeping you in our hearts, and sending all our love up to your beautiful angel at the Rainbow Bridge.