OT: Hector 2004-2016
In 2004, RW's very old Cocker Spaniel was declining fast. We wanted our then-young Golden to have a companion, and we had more-or-less decided on a Springer Spaniel. In fact, I was at work discussing this over the phone with RW when I overheard one of my co-workers mentioning that one of her Springer Spaniels had just given birth to 14(!) Springer/Black Labrador mix puppies. Not on purpose, of course: the Springer's human found out the hard way that "invisible fences" are good for keeping your dogs in, but are bad at keeping other dogs out.
We visited her house, and one picked us out. When the squiggly ball of playing puppies would roll all over the yard, one stayed with us. As puppies, and as adults, Hector and his brothers and sisters were virtually indistinguishable from Flat-Coat Retrievers; he was mistaken for one hundreds of times as we hiked the local training trails.
Hector was never as athletic as his purebred Golden older sister, and peculiarly enough given his parents, not a big fan of water. But he was unfailingly loyal. When they got out of the yard, the Golden would lead us on really annoying chases that would often end several blocks away; Hector, on the other hand, would sit at the front porch and wait for someone to let him back in the house. He was great with children, and much more human-friendly than our Golden, who often acted more like a Shiba Inu. Or a cat. All he wanted to do was be with his people, and preferably, a bunch of other people as well. At the off-leash dog park, he was way more interested in the other humans, than the other dogs.
We moved, and our vast old backyard was replaced by a smaller one. However, he was old enough not to care as much about the lack of space, and there was a popular park nearby to explore, although on leash. Since our Golden, who was once a magnificently agile dog with amazing endurance, aged out of doing walks, Hector got all of the walk attention. The couple of times the Golden did escape, Hector followed her, and made sure she got back home.
A couple of years ago, he started to get arthritis, and his long hike days were over. Still, he adapted well to being a more sedentary city dog. However, a couple of months ago, his vet removed a melanoma growth on his gum. The vet thought he had got it before it had spread.
But, it turned out, he hadn't. Hector declined quickly. He was put on puppy hospice drugs, which created a brief burst of energy and vitality, but we knew that they were not going to do anything but keep him happier as the inevitable happened. Last Saturday, he took a severe turn for the worse, and essentially stopped eating and drinking.
The end came this morning. We were hoping to have Hector around for at least a few more months, to teach the new puppy how to live and work in our pack. But, no such luck.
Farewell, Hector.
Look- it's trying to think!