I don’t know how to go about this. I think Arlene would want me to let everyone know. She was so close to many of you. My wife, my best friend, my everything lost her life in a car accident last night. This is very hard for me to write but I think it is what she would have wanted me to do.
Friday was the day that Razzles had enough. It was a very, very sad day. We had to have our Razzles put to rest. On Tuesday Razzles began to go down hill. She was diagnosed with Canine degenerative disc disease on 06/12. After a gallant effort on her part it was time to end the struggle on her part.
After a month of steroids and showing all sings of being able to live a some what normal life it all became too much for her. She was unable to go upstairs at night to bed and she was not happy about that. Her mobility was limited to just walking outside on a leash. She was eating, sleeping and walking around well. She was excepting everything well until Tuesday July 6th. Everything began to change. She began to have trouble walking and her walks became much shorter. Each day was a little more noticeable. On Friday I took her outside and she was very unsteady. As soon as we were outside she sat down and looked at me. Razzles would make no attempted to move. For the first time through this nightmare Razzles showed signs of pain in her face. Tears came in my eyes and I had the feeling in me that it was time to end this on her part. Through this entire struggle Razzles showed no signs of pain until Friday. It was also the first time she would not attempt to stand. Razzles was very frustrated during this ordeal but seemed to accepting everything. We took Razzles to our veterinary that afternoon and I carried her inside. When all was over it was a big relief to see her with no pain and frustration. As much as I hurt inside I was sure the right decision was made for Razzles.
For the second time I had lost one of my favorite Labs. Our Hawken passed away last December. I know there should not be any favorites when it comes to our Labs, But they were my 2 favorites. Hawken passed away in our kitchen so there was no decision to be made. This time there had to be a decision made. This decision will stick with me for a long, long time. I know in my heart it was the right one to make but it still haunts me.
Over the years Razzles was Known for her intensity, she was the most intense Labrador retriever I ever had. Everything she did was intense, eating, sleeping, retrieving even when she went to the bathroom. She never lost that intensity until the final moment. Razzles was a lab that would retrieve under water, she was always ready to work and please you. Together with our Magnum they produced some of our best puppies. Ever litter we have had Razzles thought they were her puppies. After the litters were born you had to let Razzles see them, she just had that mother instinct. Her ashes will be kept in our dinning room along with Hawken and Amber. I will never forget “Razzles”, all the joy and good times she has given Arlene and I over the years. She became Known as the Razz to most and will be sadly missed for a long, long time.
Last weekend our Razzles began dragging her hind legs and could not stand up. We immediately thought the worst and we were going to lose our Razz. Early Monday morning we carried her into our veterinary’s office. She was diagnosed with canine degenerative disk disease. After spending 3 days at the veterinary hospital we brought our Razz home. While she was at the veterinary hospital she spent 2 days on a steroid IV. The third day she was there she was started on a steroid pill 3X’s a day. She is now on steroids twice a day and eventual go to once a day. At this time she is doing much better and is happy to be back home. Canine degenerative disc disease
I will be discussing Canine degenerative disc disease in our July newsletter with more information and also how Razzles is coming along.
The Labrador Retriever Remains America’s Most Popular Dog for the 19 consecutive year. The gentle, intelligent and family-friendly Labrador Retriever from
AKC/Eukanuba National Championship
The broadcast of the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship will premiere Saturday, February 6, at 8 pm (ET) on Animal Planet, with repeat airings through February and March.
The
USA Network and CNBC will be home to The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show presented by Pedigree®, for the 27th consecutive year in 2010.
Schedule :
NIGHT 1:
Monday, February 15
Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding Groups
8-9 p.m. (ET) live on USA Network
9-11 p.m. (ET) live on CNBC
NIGHT 2:
Tuesday, February 16
Sporting, Working and Terrier Groups, Best In Show
Breed judging highlight videos are available throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday on the Westminster Web site. These highlights will be available after the show, as well. http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2010/show/tv.html
I would like to take this time to thank you for all of your emails and phone calls in regards to the loss of Hawken. It is such a good feeling to know that we have so many supporters and friends. As for Hawken he is home and in our dinning room and is suffering no more. Not a day has gone by that I don’t think about him. I also thank god that Hawken passed away on his terms, at his home and in his kitchen. Once again thank you to all.
Just when you think that things can not become much worse, bang. It was a very bad day yesterday. Our chocolate lab “SUNSET’S OPENING DAY HAWKEN” passed away. “Hawken” was our watchdog, he was very protective of his surroundings, and our property was his domain. For all the people that have come in contact with “Hawken” knew him as a 120 pound power house that looked like a bear. His health had been going down hill for a few months. Yesterday was my worst nightmare, he collapsed in the yard. I was able to move him into the kitchen and he gave me a look as to say “I have had enough”.
I can still remember the day we picked “Hawken” up from
Over the years he sired many wonderful puppies. One of those puppies is our “Magnum” who has been our all-star as a stud dog. I considered “Hawken” to be the backbone of Sunset Labradors. All though he is no longer with us he will always be in our hearts. His ashes will be in our dinning room along with Amber’s. I will never forget “Hawken”, he was a man’s dog that I took pride when walking him outside. People always took a second look and it was not at me, it was at “Hawken”.
It has been a very hectic 4 weeks. My partner, best friend and most importantly my wife has been having major problems with her leg. Finally after numerous doctor appointments and all kinds of different medications she seems to be on the mend. I sent her in to stay with my mother for a week and possible longer. My mom, her mother-in-law has always been a care giver and the company will do her good. Arlene’s problem is she is always there to take care of everybody else’s problems and she lets herself go. My mother is 81 and has many health issues herself but this gives her a purpose, she was the one that nursed me through my hip replacement last year.
I can not imagine my life with out my mother and Arlene. I have gotten behind with everything. There have been many emails about our new Labrador retriever training site at http://www.sunsets-labradorretrievertraining.com Hopefully I will be able to work on that site now. Also I have started working more on http://www.labrador-retrievers-world.com I have been able to keep up with
Our new website is up and running. The site is to help train Labrador retrievers from the puppy stage. We will be using one of our Labrador puppies from our last litter. A yellow male, SUNSETS RIDE EM HIGH CHISUM. The website is designed with the new Labrador retriever puppy owner in mind. The design of the website is in blog format. Please feel free to leave comments and our plan is to do a post at least 3 times a week. I began training “Chisum” at twelve weeks due to familly illness. Usually I like to begin training at 7 weeks, 49 days but “Chisum” is doing good at this time and we are not that far behind. We hope you enjoy our new site http://www.sunsets-labradorretrievertraining.com
Chisum turned 15 weeks old today, he has settled in with our other labs quite well. He kind of reminds me of a pesky fly. He loves tormenting the other dogs and they swat at him and he just keeps coming back for more.
We had started a new website Labrador-Retrievers-World.com for information on the Labrador Retriever. We are going to continue with that site however there is a problem with the use of graphics. The size of the graphics that can be used is limited and we wanted to use photos in the training section of a
This new server will be perfect for our use, the problem is that it works differently from all our other web servers that we use and what I am use to. The internet world is constantly changing and you have to stay on top of it and honestly I haven’t. But our site will be up with in a couple of weeks. So stay tuned!!!!