It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air

Dog's Passing..

I regret to say that our gorgeous rescue had finally passed away today. 

I normally wouldn't have mentioned such heart breaking news or personal matters online, more so in an finished Christmas book. 

But I've been known to use his photos during note chapters or for the cover of this Christmas book when I couldn't find any other neutral ones that fitted. 

On Wednesday the 20th 2024, he passed away.

He was and forever will be a good and gorgeous boy in my eyes.  

We may have had a shaky start due to his background before he was a rescue from the shelter but he was a brilliant and kind boy. 

He did have health concerns, it's why most didn't want to take him home with them but we did. We didn't want his years to be spent in a shelter forever and gave him a home. 

He was happy and finally seemed at peace, learnt to trust and know was good affection was.

He was the best dog I could have asked for and I will dearly miss him. 

I won't lie, it was known from the start that he'd never die from old age. His health conditions would leave him in a lot of pain and suffering during his later years. 

We recently learnt he was much older than we were originally told and that had explained why his health was much worse then it should have been at the age we assumed he was. 

Pain killers had no longer worked for him and he was no longer able to live the life he loved. He was looking parts of himself and we wanted to say goodbye why he was a dog we knew and not a stranger in his lifeless body. 

So, yes, we did put him down.

I understand some might be against that route but he had been suffering for years now, medication no longer could help and pain killers did nothing for him. It was either let him live in pain and weak, unable to be who he grown to be under our care or lay him to rest where he felt safe and still part of his true self. 

It was a hard decision but it was done. 

Barney was perfect. 

He may not have been like other dogs but that what made him imperfectly perfect. 

He came from an hard past and he grew to be a family friendly member of the family that learnt to be happy and cheered up in his years with us. 

Most had said he'd never be "tamed" but never needed to be tamed. He only needed love and acceptable and he learnt to heal from the bad treatment of his past. 

The lost has been hard, it wasn't completely planned. 

It just got the point where he couldn't actual walk anymore and he loved strutting past other houses with pets to show off he was such an "good boy" and show of his "owners". 

He always walked like he was on an cat walk, always looking smug and openly judged other dogs with us. 

He was such a little shit sometimes but he knew it and he would let us be little shits back. In a good way. 

He'd grown so much and it broke our hearts to lose him but we'd agree from the moment he was taken in to our home, had grown a place in our hearts. That'd we'd never force him to suffer due to our selfish selves unable to let him go.

So, we let him go why he stood laid as Barney and knew who we were. 

He died knowing he was loved and held a family with us.

He was and forever will be our gorgeous boy. 

And I will forever love you, Barney.