AJ was a part of our family for 10 years and my parents had to put him down unexpectedly yesterday. Although I'm not usually a super emotional person (at least as far as sadness goes), I have been a wreck. It's especially hard to be away from home at times like this . I didn't get my chance to say good-bye, I just have to grieve from a distance.

I will never forget the day we brought AJ home. I actually was not there to pick him out. I came home from somewhere (I was 16 so I was probably with friends or at work) and around the corner of the kitchen runs this super cute, skinny, BIG puppy (he was 6 mo. but already huge!). He was so happy and friendly and I loved him right away! At that point we still had Sam and it was fun to watch AJ (who was so young) try to play with Sam (who was so old).

AJ certainly had his quirks. Digging holes, for instance. He thought he was a gopher or something. We ended up having to tie him out by the cherry tree so he didn't dig up the whole yard, which at first made me so sad because he loved to run around and it seemed silly to have to tie him when he had so much room to roam - but it didn't take long to realize that he liked being out there. Even when he wasn't tied up he'd go lay out there in the shade.
He was terrified of thunderstorms. If he was outside during a storm he would destroy the garage door trying to get in.
He loved our cats - I'll never forget AJ and Mittens and how they used to play hide and seek in the field. Or how you'd come into the garage at night and find him snuggled with Pumpkin.
And he wouldn't fetch for anything. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he just didn't care enough to do it. If you had a treat he might bring it back to you twice, at most. But usually you'd throw the ball and he'd look at you like "well, you were dumb enough to throw it, go get it yourself" and walk away in the other direction.
And lastly, he wouldn't bark. We have big dogs to be guard dogs and it's a good thing AJ was big and looked intimidating because he couldn't have kept a fly out of the house. I swear if someone was trying to break it he'd sit by and wag his tail. Usually you hear people yelling at their dogs to stop barking - we had to give AJ a treat every time he DID bark to encourage him to do it some more!

AJ could be pretty protective. If I was outside sitting on the ground and Charles came up behind me, AJ would get between us and chase him around the yard - not in a mean way, ever. But in a clearly protective way.
Mom would tell him when I was coming home and he would perk up his ears and get excited and wait for me. When I'd leave, he'd start moping as soon as he saw the suitcases.

And my favorite thing was that he was always the first to greet me when I came home - whether it be from school, work, college, Australia, KY... he'd hear the car coming and be there to greet me as soon as I opened the car door. It's weird to think that there will be no furry mass to trip over with my suitcase the next time I go home.

I just can't believe he's gone. No one saw it coming - a week ago he was fine. He had injured his leg right before my parents came to visit this past weekend, but they took him to the vet, put him on meds and he seemed to be doing better when they left. But the first day there were here my grandparents called and said his whole back half was paralyzed. He was himself - happy, and eating and seemed really normal but he couldn't move his back legs or his tail. So when my parents got home yesterday and found out that the X-rays showed nothing and the only option was an MRI, possibly surgery and after thousands of dollars still no guarantee that he'd be able to walk again, the only other option was to put him to sleep.

I don't know how my parents did it. I would have been a mess. They went to see him at the vet (where he'd been staying) and he was so excited to see them - not having a clue that it would be the last time... that he wasn't going home. I was thinking last night that it's too bad the vet couldn't come to our house to do the deed... just so that he could be home. But it's good to know that it was quick and painless and he was with people he loved and who loved him.

I'm sure going to miss my sweet puppy. But he will always be close by. My parents are going to bury him in his favorite spot - underneath the cherry tree.