Today would be Skip's 7th gotcha day, but sadly we will have to celebrate his life with him in spirit only. On the evening of June 10th Skip took his last breath snuggled next to us, at our home. Things went very fast, he was not in pain. The vet believes it must have been a brain tumor or some other neurological malady. We will never know for sure, but what we do know is that we were not prepared for this and that it hurts like hell.
For those of you who don't remember Skip's story you can read about him here
Who Is Skip?
I wasn't sure I would ever be able to write this blog post but I know that there are people who read my doG blog, know our little pack and their adventures, and you would miss seeing him in future posts and wonder where he was. I am so glad I made it to the place where I can share with you how this little rattie left paw prints on our hearts.
Skip was a great teacher to us, he had a rich, complex, personality. We never spent a day or night away from him for the almost 7 years he was with us. He slept in our bed every night and went just about everywhere we went. He was a great little traveler and loved his time on the OR coast. He had some tricky behaviors we learned to manage and we learned how important it is to always advocate for our dogs. We learned not to put our own timetable on things, change takes as long as it takes!
One of the best things we ever did was to bring Nosework into Skip's life. He was an awesome Nosework partner for Dave and he LOVED to practice his skill. He was proficient in 3 odors, was awesome to watch and could not be stumped!
Skip had a small fan club too. There were a select few (Skip's
selection) who he learned to trust. We know they too have paw prints on
their hearts, that Skip put there. Thank you to those people who took
the time with Skip, and gave him the space he needed. It means so much
to us that he was able to know that there are people who are gentle and
that he could trust them to respect and love him just the way he was.
SKIP
came into our lives,
left paw prints on our
HEARTS,
and we are CHANGED forever.
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| Skip with his fursister Jenny-Boo |
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| Skip loved to play with Blue the best. |
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| A young Skip, his first time on the OR coast |
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| A seasoned Skip on one of the many times he spent with us on the coast. |
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| at a T-Touch workshop given by Lori Stevens |
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| Playing with Blue at a Rattie meet-up |
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| Skip during his "Yellow" phase. |
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| Skip keeping Tim company on Tim's first day in foster care. |
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| Skip always loved to pull sticks out of the water... |
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| The pack, Skip, Jenny, Liza, Birdie, Tim |
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| Skip and his fur-sis Birdie |
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| Skip and his fur-sis Liza |
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| Skip and his fur-brother Tim |
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| The first photo I ever took of Skip, 6 years old, the first morning in his forever home, our home. |
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| Skip on one of our last trips to the coast, 12 years old |
HAPPY GOTCHA DAY SKIP WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU, RIP...
