a good dog

i will never wrap my head around why esther was never adopted. hundreds of people met her over the 5 years that she lived here, yet no one ever fell head over heels in love and just had to have her as part of their family.

i don't get it...she was truly an incredible dog.

she came in from burnaby spca..she was an unclaimed stray. her skin was an absolute mess and her gut was full of garbage and rotting dead things. and yet someone must have once loved her..a few years ago when her knees were acting up, we did some xrays. she had sometime in the past had the surgeries to repair torn cruciates. i suppose she could have been a rescue dog and some group had done the surgeries, but i think they would have tattoo'd her when she was under to identify her as one of their rescues...most rescues usually do.

in all of the years that esther lived here, she never once did anything wrong. she never caused a single problem, she was never irritable or unkind...she was a really good and sweet dog.
we think she was between 10-12 when she arrived..so if we were right...today she was somewhere between 15-17 years old.

she has had her health issues, she has been hypothyroid for years with the recent addition of cushings disease this year. her weakness and fading away are indicative of a probable underlying cancer. the vet today said she thought the same and i think this was most likely true.

esther was one of those dogs who should have been cherished in the safety of her family for her whole life long. despite hardship, abandonment and betrayal, she remained a perfect companion...solid gold, rock solid, gentle and forgiving every moment of her long life.

if we can't find great homes for great dogs like esther, what chance do the imperfect ones have?

the only regret that i have is that esther needed us five years ago and she still needed us today. for such an incredibly good and full of grace dog, her life has been really unfair.