Goodbye, Shylo...

We are sad. Very sad today. We had to walk the difficult road yesterday of saying goodbye to Shylo. He was fully 1/3 of “us.” He was a huge part of our life. We were --to each other-- a gift from God at a very difficult time in his life as well as ours. After what seemed to be a steady “downhill” of his health since this past Easter, we learned yesterday morning that he had acute Lymphoma in advanced stages. The doctor said he could “make him comfortable” for a few more weeks…months, maybe, but we chose not to. We chose to let him go while he could know us…see us…and feel us.

Our Kerry Blue Terrier was born into a very difficult world. His owner had been a dog-obsessed, not-quite-thinking-properly person who had over 100 dogs on her property. Of these, there were 43 housed in an old Greyhound bus…and among those, 28 Kerry Blues, and among those, according to the Portland woman (Bernie) who was flown in to help with the rescue, “they are all very thin, but happy and friendly except one young dark male who is a bit shy.” This was in the fall of 2001, when we were just relocating to Portland from Wichita. Michelle had been looking on the web at another breed of dog when she learned about Kerry Blue Terriers. She contacted Bernie (mentioned above) about a Kerry Blue puppy, and Bernie –just having returned from the raid/rescue in Alaska (more on this)—asked if we wanted to consider adopting a rescued dog. Not really. Too many problems, we thought, behavior issues, not much history on rescued dogs, possibly and on and on. “But let’s at least go and see,” we decided. When we got there, she had two Kerry males that were on their way from Anchorage to Denver, via Portland, but were held over because of Denver weather. Bernie was babysitting these two out of the many she had rescued. One was “all over us” immediately, as if to say, “take me! Take me!” But there was this other one…quietly sitting by himself…quivering on the corner of her back yard. And we fell. We fell hard. Although we wanted to take him home, adoption guidelines call for a home inspection first, so we had to wait a day. Shylo ended up with us, and he was truly a gift from God. We will never forget the day when Shylo first experienced the ocean and running on the beach. This was a huge transformation from the first days when he would only cower in the corner of a room. In his first months, if we tossed a toy near him, he would cower as though he were in trouble…or something.

Shylo pranced with delight every night when we came home. He loved camping and talking hikes and walks. He was a people- and child- magnet. When out walking, he turned heads, and people would regularly ask permission to pet him or “touch” him and that amazing coat of soft hair, that Michelle groomed regularly at 4-5 hours per cut. Everyone loved his braid between his eyes that Michelle carefully kept. Kids would squeal or just smile, and Shylo would simply stand there…perfectly still, to let them touch him. He was joined at the hip with Michelle…throughout the house, or wherever we would go. He had his own camp chair. He LOVED running on the beach. He never barked, never growled, and never ever showed anything but love and acceptance to so many…and daily to us.

This picture was our last with him...just outside the doctor's office, where we got to hold him as he closed his eyes that were fixed on us before going to sleep for the last time.

So this morning was very different. It was very hard…and is not getting easier. Our hearts are heavy…and we are grieving… We cannot figure this one out yet. He should have had many more years of life, but did not. Why we could not have him longer, we cannot understand…but we thank the Lord that He allowed us to take care of this little guy for the last six years of his life. Will you pray for us?