Farewell to my fishin' dawg -- no Idaho for me this year

[danbob]

To all my FAOL friends --

I won't be able to make the Idaho FAOL fish-in this year. My old dawg Kodiak, who is 14, is in the last few days of her life. She has had a reoccuring bladder and kidney infection for a year now, so it's not a big surprise. But this time the test results show no infection, and it's cancer. She's fading fast, and likely won't make it thru next week. Of course I have to stay home with her instead of going fishing, the car trip would be miserable for her. She's been my best friend all those years.

Bye, Kodi. I still remember your first ever face-to-face encounter with a brook trout when you were a puppy. You sniffed it, it flipped, and you jumped 3 feet in the air and ran away yelping! Me and the kids still laugh about it. How you lay in the water behind me (never in front) to cool off while I was fishing, always careful to position yourself out of my backcast--and warn me about the moose if they were coming close.

DANBOB

[kbproctor]

My heart breaks for you.

[crazy4oldcars]

Now my wife is lookin at me funny and asking what's wrong. I'm sorry to hear about your buddy, but glad that y'all had so many years together.
There will be many Fish-ins, but not friends like that are few and far between.
Hang in there.

Kirk

[Lotech]

That's a tough one danbob. You have my sincere sympathies. I know what you're going through, I've lost two of my best buddies this last year. I wish I could comfort you.

[ldice]

I have lost two of my best friends to that type of cancer, it is not easy. The vet told us that we really could do nothing, and that is the hardest thing you can do at a time like this. Just being with them is all you can do.
Hang in there, and God Bless.
Larry

[kglissmeyer]

Sorry for this. I took my friend, Aspen, with me last week to our favorite spring; she had trouble swimming the creek and then getting back in the truck at the end of the day. It's hard to see them age so much faster than ourselves. Throw in disease, and it makes it even tougher. Keep the faith and remember the times like that picture you posted.

Blessings,

Kelly.

[Icemanxxxv]

I feel your sadness and sorrow. For I too have been were you are at. God Bless you and you puppy, may her crossing the Rainbow Bridge be calm and peaceful.
My best friend ever stayed with us for 17 years. I'm tearing up with the thoughts of his loss today nearly three years in passing.

[Bobinmich]

This is from You Can't Make a Living Tying Flies
It's about my hunting dog named Audubon Autumn

“Bird hunting with your dog is one of those experiences that you
have to live. You cannot explain it to others. Crisp Autumn days, walks
along margins of sprouting clear cuts, the dog goes birdy, her bobbed tail
wiggling at 90, a solid point, the fierce blast of wings as a grouse flushes.
The crack of the 20 and just maybe a falling grouse. All this creates a link
between you and your dog that goes through hearts and bonds to souls.”

“Ever smelled a Brittany? They don’t smell doggy. They have kind of
a sweet earthy smell that is actually quite pleasant. They are soft, even
tempered, sweet dogs that can find their way deep into your heart.
Autumn has hunted with me 10 seasons. She has hunted all the coverts
around Baldwin, the RifleRiver, the Deward area and apple orchards
around Frederic, the Enterprise oil fields around HigginsLake, the farms
around Stockbridge, the Pigeon River State Forrest, and many, many
more. She has hunted pheasant, quail, grouse, and woodcock. She was
the family pet for my children and my grandchildren. She has shared
sleeping bags with me on many a cool fall night while we laid there and
listened to elk bugle or the sound of a coyote howling at the Hunter’s
Moon. She is now at almost 14 years old, deaf, partially blind, and dying
of kidney failure. The day of heartbreak is close at hand. Only I will know
this deepest sorrow when this hunting friend is lost.

Author’s Note: Autumn continued to decline. She went blind and
could no longer walk. I put her in the truck and took her on her last trip
to the vet. There was no point in making her suffer anymore. I took her
head between my hands looked into her sightless eyes and whispered
into her deaf ears. “Be patient , little one, I will be along soon.” I will
spread her ashes in the apple orchard in Frederic where she loved to
hunt. God this hurts.”

You can see more at http://www.hatofmichigan.org/uploads...lies_ebook.pdf Page 134 or so.

Trust me, I know how you feel and my heart goes out to you.

Godspeed,

Bob

[Z]

Dan, my heart goes out to you. You were blessed with many fine years of Kodi in your life. Remember them all.

Lady sends her love and a wag of her tail.

Z

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Dan,

Just walked in the door from Idaho and saw this. When you didn't make it to Idaho I knew this might be the case. What a beauty of a dog. That picture says it all. After some time that empty spot in your soul fills up again. Our prayers are with you. Ghillie send a wag of his tail and a wet sloppy lick.

REE