Our Sweet Rose (this may be sad, you have been warned)

Last night our dog Rose was put to sleep. She was fine on Saturday during the day, but at 10:30pm she whinned a little bit. When we woke on Sunday, she had no appetite and could not use the bathroom. We thought she was just constipated, but after we went to the Dog ER we found out that she had ruptured her stomach and surgery could not save her. I was alone with her and held her when she left this world.

Sadly, you can see her pain in the picture

Jason and I are suprised by how sad we are with her passing. We got her six weeks after we got married, and she has been with us our whole marriage. She was a family member and like family members there were good qualities and frustrating ones. Rose was very loyal, she loved to run, was very motherly especially to our babies and our other dog Oliver. When our children were still waking up in the night, Rose would come and wake me up and let me know that I needed to take care of them, it was very sweet. She did not like to be alone and suffered from some anxiety. She was a scavenger and begged for food even though we never fed her from the table. Bryce loved her a lot, he liked to race her around the house and chase her on his bike. In every prayer he would pray for her and Oliver.

Bryce does not really understand what has happened, but he tells us that she is with Jesus, but I am pretty sure he doesn't unerstand the concept. Oliver is struggling, he keeps looking around for her and wants a lot more affection. He and Rose snuggled together every night and she bathed him every morning.

As I was saying goodbye to her at the hospital, I was overwhelmed with grief and guilt. I asked her for forgiveness for getting angry with her at times, I know it was only for my benefit, but I felt the need to tell her out loud how much she meant to me and that I was sorry I was not a better mother to her. I promised that I would make a better effort with Oliver (Rose was my favorite).

Jason's father offered to come up this evening and help us with the burial. The hospital was very sweet and made her a little cardboard casket. They also made a clay mold of her paw print for us to keep. We did have a little funeral, we read Ecclesiastes 3 from the scriptures and Jason dedicated the grave. She is burried 100 feet into the woods next to our house, when it gets warmer I am going to plant a rose bush, (or a plant that will grow well in the shade) in front of her grave and carve her name into a nearbye tree. As I said earlier, we never thought that we would feel this strongly about our dogs passing, but she was a member of our family and she did have a spirit. I understand that not everyone are animal people, but for those of you who are, I know you will understand.

As I said Bryce did not understand what was going on, but her did want to help dig the grave.

I was the only one able to say goodbye, but I wanted Jason to look at her one last time and for me to get a picture to show Bryce when he is old enough to understand.