Joe, the English Pointer, came to us when Dan’s Childhood friend (lifelong friend) was killed in a motorcycle accident. He had three English Pointers, and his family could not take them. They suggested the dogs would have to be put in rescue. The three dogs were all confused, scared, moaning and clearly in grief that their world had been turned upside down. We asked if we could re-home the dogs and not put them in rescue, as I knew how to appropriately evaluate homes. We got that permission. Very quickly, with the help of the English Pointer community, we were able to re-home two, and had a home secured for Joe. However, Joe was not doing well. He was refusing to eat or drink. He slept and rocked. It was so hard to watch him. We had him vet checked and he was found to be healthy, but the vet reminded us that Pointers are not Labs, and that they were not so easy-going about changes, and were deeply bonded to their owners. We had to wait him out. We set up a bed on the couch between us, and there he stayed for 7 days, not eating and not drinking. We would take him out, and he wandered the yard in confusion. Then, on the 7th day, he looked at Dan, sat up, and put his paw on Dan’s chest. My words were along the lines of ‘we’ve got a new dog, don’t we?’ We did. Joe became a celebrity in our all Labrador household. He had a low opinion of the Labs, often looking at them as if they were just too dumb to be in his presence. Joe commanded his “throne” until his last day. Sadly, we did not have much time with Joe (just four years). We are left with more questions than answers. Liver was enlarged. He had notably decreased reflexes and mentation. Joe seemingly had a seizure. It was thought he may have had a stroke. While we never got an absolute diagnosis, the thinking was that he had cancer, and it was in his liver and brain. We parted with our sweet boy, who will always be special to us.
last moments 