Cotton, The Fertility Dog

We had been threatening it for months.  Cotton had become a grumpy, incontinent old man who wore diapers and nipped at little kids.  We had gone to the vet to see what could be done and they couldn't find anything really wrong with him.  He still loved walks, treats, snuggling and barking at anything that moved in front of our house.  But last Thursday he hurt something (we still don't know what) while the boys walked him and it just got worse as the day went on. By that evening, he couldn't hardly move and yelped when we tried to move him.  It was so hard to see him in so much pain.  Aaron and I looked at each other and knew it was time.  We talked to Lucas and JB, prayed as a family and made a vet appointment for the next morning.  Again, we'd talked about it, joked about it, threatened it for months, but when it came right down to it, losing Cotton was absolutely heartbreaking. 

I felt like this was a "daddy job" and Aaron thought this was a "mommy job" and neither of us wanted the job, so we went together.  And it was heartbreaking.  Neither of us had ever done anything like that before and it was awful but peaceful.

My sister and her family adopted Cotton as a puppy for their 5 year old since they hadn't been able to have more kids.   Right after they got him, she got pregnant with their 2nd son.  When they had their 3rd, she was ready for a break and I wanted a dog for Lucas.  3 months after we got Cotton, I got pregnant with Jonah after 8 years of trying.  Thus the name, Cotton The Fertility Dog, stuck and he's been part of the family for almost 12 years.  

We'll take his ashes to be buried at his most favorite place on the earth, the Gunson (Mark's family) property up at Camp Sherman near Sisters, where he has gone camping for Mark's family reunion every year.  And we'll have a sweet, little memorial for our sweet little puppy.  May he rest in peace.