Tasha - Sept 15, 2000 - March 15, 2010

Sweet Tasha. For 9-1/2 years she was a huge part of life. Ahhh... the sheer joy of loving her from a pup to a well adjusted adult. Integrating her into 1 of a pack of 4... a Rat Terrier, Miniature Australian Shepherd and a Border Collie - she thrived. Unexpectedly losing her has torn a hole in my heart. To say I feel devastated feels like such an understatement.

Cutting a much longer story short - the Vet felt she had a cancerous spleen ...but, she made it through the splenectomy surgery and was sitting up in a crate when they called at 12 noon on March 15th. Everything went well and the fact she was sitting up was just like Tasha, "so, when can I go home?" We could pick her up at 4. Well... we were ecstatic. Seriously felt like the two luckiest people alive, and we were getting ol' Tasha Horse back. Thrilled beyond words. We should buy a lottery ticket - we're that lucky kind of feeling.

At 2:30 our world crashed down when we got another call. It was the Vet saying she went into shock and had a cardiac arrest. They thought she may have had an internal bleed. They tried everything to keep her and eventually... they lost her. Talk about a numbing blow after such an extreme high. I seriously felt like I crawled outside of myself.

I managed to drive us to the Vet's office so we could say goodbye to the shell of a dog that was now lying there on the floor covered in a blanket. I don't know how I did it. I don't remember the drive much at all. And, some 30 hours after doing that now... I think we are both still in shock.

Tasha was such a HUGE presence around us. From the snoring and the funny noises she made in her dreams, the walking heavy-footed around, banging her dog toys by intentionally dropping them on the floor, quietly and not so quietly demanding attention, the way she looked at you... well, everything. There is a lot to miss there.

How can one understand people who have never experienced the joy and love of an animal? For as painful as that loving can be, I have not a single regret. My partner and I both agree that in time we'll get another female Pit Bull puppy... we don't know when we'll be ready... but, we certainly aren't afraid to love another one.