Farewell Friend

A week ago today I awoke to a surprise. But not the good kind. The kind that changes your life- a quieter, less playful and less hairy life. The kind of surprise where your presumably healthy dog is gone. Just like that, our 9-year-old Corgi, Keenan, unexpectedly passed away. It hasn't even been a year since we lost Zoe. Last Thursday evening I was concerned when he started acting sluggish, didn't want to eat then didn't want his favorite treat. I felt a little better when I rang the doorbell and he returned the usual bark but he walked rather than ran to the door. Since we've moved into this house, Keenan has been sneaking upstairs- sometimes to Maggie's room but usually to our room and I always have to send him back down. When I found him laying next to our bed (his usual spot) Thursday night I again felt a little better, but knew I'd have to find a vet the following morning. We haven't even found a vet here because he's up on his shots. I had a bad feeling we'd get news similar to last year with Zoe.
I never got that chance. Friday morning he was already gone. I'm so glad I didn't kick him out of our room that night; even though he's just a dog, I'm grateful he didn't die alone in his crate. Our Mr. Mr. We've had him longer than we've been married- our first joint endeavor. Daniel found him at a pet store, fell in love and we picked out the name Keenan. He lived with me at my parent's house until we married and moved to B'ham, then we brought Zoe into our little family shortly after. We loved both our dogs, but much like Zoe saw me as her master, Keenan saw Daniel as his. Daniel took his passing pretty hard. We were both in shock, still are a little and very sad not only that our Keen Keen is gone, but that we have no dogs. We're a dogless family and that makes it even harder.

Keenan loved adults but was scared of kids and therefore not always the best family dog, like Zoe who let kids crawl all over her. I'm sure he preferred life before we brought home all those moving, noise-making kids. Still, Keen was very playful- loved to run around the house with Will and play fetch outside. Though he did have his own version of fetch where you take the ball further away from the person throwing it. He made this cute little whiny growl when he stretched and/or wanted some attention. He loved to swim...when we first moved to B'ham we took the dogs to a nearby walking trail with a little creek and let Keen play in the water. His love for water got him in trouble sometimes- like when he'd jump in my parents' pond. He hated storms and crawled under our legs at the slightest hint of rain. Thunder? Forget about it. He howled when Jake cried for more than 10 seconds. He never did that with the other two. I could go on and on about all his little quirks- 9 years is a long time and yet he had another 4-5 years life expectancy. I keep expecting to let him out every morning or hear him bark when the doorbell rings. Still hard to believe he's gone.

We had a Necropsy done and found out that he had cancer. There was a small tumor on the wall of his heart and it ruptured, filling the sac around his heart with blood until it eventually had no room to beat. The pathologist said it most likely ruptured that afternoon when we noticed his sluggish behavior- it typically takes 12-24 hours. She also said there's nothing we could've done, even if we took him to a vet Thursday and they happened to make the diagnosis. In the end, it is nice to know he didn't suffer and even though he wasn't a perfect dog, we loved him, the kids loved him, he was ours and he loved us.

looking through all his pictures, it's crazy to see just how much our 

lives have changed in the time keenkeen was a part of our family

One of the last pictures I took of him

watching Will and Daniel play in the distance. Our
last weekend with him

 Farewell furry friend. We miss you.