Buttons, Son&Heir’s medium-sized “some kind of herding dog/beagle mix” who, for most of his life weighed in at between 45 and 50 very lean pounds, at the ripe old age of seventeen(ish), finally “slipped the surly bonds of earth” yesterday, about noon.
Goodbye, buddy.
(Almost always a “happy dog” he appears to be squinting here because he is. Sun in his eyes and all that. 🙂 Photo taken about four years ago, just a couple of months after he nearly died from an infection–caught just in time to be turned around with very aggressive anti-biotic treatment.)
Although Buttons much preferred outdoor life–and was an exclusively outdoor dog for almost all the years he was with us, after we got him from his previous owners at age 2.5 yrs or so (they had kept him “crated” for about 23 hours/day. Should have been shot). This winter, he spent most of his time indoors, though–especially when temps were below freezing. The sudden slide downhill in the past couple of weeks–most of it in the last couple of days was not easy to watch. The vet agreed with me that he was at the end of the road, and that was that.
Yes, I cried a tad. So sue me for it.
Leashes and treats have already been doled out to The Good Neighbors for their dogs. I’m still waiting to see if they want a ton of dog food–canned and dry. Buttons was a sharing kinda guy. 🙂