We’ve started this new year on quite a sad note. Friday we had to put Shiloh down after an aggressive form of cancer spread through her body and began to slow her down. The vet had diagnosed her with Lymphoma back in November and said she might not make it till Christmas. As you can guess, the news was very hard to take, and the reality was setting in that her long and charmed life was coming to an end. After the initial shock and the sorrow had subsided, we realized we had to make the most of the time we had left with her and actually LIVE with her.

She was showing no signs of pain so we did the same routine things we always did with her, like walks in the neighborhood, but we scaled them down so to not tire her out. Julie began giving her table scraps in the kitchen and even cooking small meals for her when the hard dog food was too hard to chew. She was getting the Queen’s treatment for sure!

Throughout the holidays we kept close eyes on her, but she was still the same Shiloh we had always known. With the exception of feeding her differently and not pushing her exercise, nothing was different. We kept hoping to see signs of pain or anything abnormal to know when the time was getting closer.

It wasn’t until just after Christmas that we noticed an irritation when she would paw at her left eye that had swollen a bit. We noticed it earlier this week and had to wait through the New Year’s holiday hours to get in to see the vet. Our gut feeling was that this trip to the vet would be the last, but we stayed optimistic in case the swelling was simply an irritation or allergy.

Luckily, Friday was a day off for Julie in her 9-80 work schedule, and she had the time off already to tend to Shiloh. I went to work and had an errand to run during lunch, and on my way back she called me with tears streaming that it was the worst scenario — the cancer had spread to her eyes and was now affecting her vision. The vet had confirmed what we already knew… it was time.

Shiloh is buried at my parents place, where we have a number of family dogs that we layed to rest. She was a special dog in Julie’s life and I believe it comforted her to know that Shiloh’s body would be taken care of and given a little more special treatment than any dog she has ever had. She was one of a kind and she touched so many people with her precious smile and an innocent nudge with her nose whenever she saw an open hand.

Goodbye, Sweet Girl.

-RB