My family and I had the honor and privilege to spend seven wonderful years of our lives with a true gift from God. She was a full blooded German shepherd named Kallie. We got her when she was just six weeks old a black fur ball. As she got older she became more than a dog to our family, she was like the fourth child. She was very loyal, respectful, and always knew what you were going to do before you even knew what you were going to do. She always enjoyed going on rides and fetching sticks. She would always sit by the table during dinner and wait for food. She was also there when you came home and would always be waiting at the door so proud to see you. We rescued a companion for her about a year ago another German shepherd named Roscoe. Roscoe restored the puppy in Kallie for awhile, and the two really bonded. Kallie became more like a mother to Roscoe, and would always keep him from getting in trouble by distracting him with a toy when he was about to do something he shouldn’t be doing. About a month ago we found out she had arthritis in her spine. We started her own steroids and pain medication, which really helped her pain until we got the other shock of our lives two weeks later. Kallie was diagnosed with a genetic disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which in English means an enlarged heart. She started panting heavily and couldn’t get any air because her heart couldn’t work right due to it being bigger than it should be. Nine days ago we took her outside for her daily morning routine. My mom and I noticed that her tongue had turned purple and she went to the woods and laid down. After getting her up and to the vet, they put her on oxygen and told us she was going into congested heart failure, we were told four days prior that she was in the early stages of the disease and she still had a year or more to live. The vet told us to go home and wait for her to call. She called five hours later and told us she was getting better and that we could come pick her up in a few hours. The second phone call came twenty minutes later; Kallie had died of a heart attack. My family never got to say goodbye to our little angel and the vet and the her staff told us that she wagged her tail up until she took her last breath and slipped away to heaven. We buried her close to our house where we can always see her and know exactly where she is resting for eternity. The last nine days have been so empty. She is no longer at the door when we come home, and not there to take out in the mornings. The first day after her death Roscoe went from room to room looking for Kallie, and we would find him sitting by himself not wanting to be the social dog that he is known to be. He was grieving for his companion. Kallie left us way before we ever thought about letting her go she was still so young. Every room in the house contains a picture of Kallie even on my dad’s nightstand there is a picture of his three human children and then a picture of the little angel God sent in the four legged form. Kallie was an exceptional dog, and her life in this house will always be remembered and her loyal and intelligent spirit will never be forgotten. I have linked a picture of her from my facebook page.

This is our dog Duke a Boston/Rat terrier mix http://bit.ly/1wNk8g he is a very affectionate dog, he kind of reminds me of a gremlin with his floppy ears. Duke is so food motivated when he sits and stays he will start to drool.

Bill

Thanks for your entries! Check back Monday to see the winning portrait (late Sunday evening for Facebook Fans)!

[…] Last week’s winner was Amanda who shared Kallie, who passed away recently from an enlarged heart. My heart goes out to Amanda while she grieves the loss of her beautiful, faithful companion. You can read her story here. […]