Cabo

 

The first night with Cabo

A week ago from yesterday I had to make the hard decision to put our sweet Cabo to sleep. I had told Scott it needed to be done before Thanksgiving because his health was declining and I knew he wasn't the happy dog he used to be. I basically was going to hold on to him until then because I'm selfish and didn't want to take Addilyn's best friend from her. It wasn't until the week leading up that I started reading online about how to make this decision and how to prep for it etc etc. Well, I definitely was not going to do it when I did. I woke up from our naps and we were getting ready to go pick up Scott from work. It was then I heard him doing his horrible cough/panting/bark again and looked out the window to check on him. I won't go into details, but I knew I needed to do it as soon as possible. I've had three dogs in my family that we've had to put to sleep. Never was it my decision or me who took them to the vet. Cabo was my dog. I've never had a family to consider when it came to putting a pet to sleep. I think one of the hardest things was the idea of Addilyn.

Scott and I during our dating time

 Deception Pass, Whidbey Island, Washington

Giving him a bath at 40 weeks with Addilyn

Addilyn at about a week old

It's hot in the south!

getting used to the humidity in the south

making his new bed work...

Cabo had a pretty awesome life with us. I got him Thanksgiving 2007, he was 8 years old. He was a trained bird dog and a pure bred Brittany Spaniel. Of course when I got him I unofficially retired him from any hunting. But he was extremely well behaved. He was perfect with kids, letting Addilyn and her cousins do anything to him and he would never argue. Cabo was an excellent trail dog. We could let him off his leash and he would run ahead, never out of site, and would either wait for us or run back and forth. He didn't bark. When he did, it was a warning bark. If someone was at our house who he did not know, he would bark. He was a wonderful protector. Even though his adoptive father (Scott) was not a fan of having a dog, he was definitely grateful for that. Cabo was never a kissing dog, but he loved to cuddle and get all the love that he could. When we were away at college and would come back to see him after a few months, he showed how much he missed me by giving me a big wet lick. But he'd never do it again. Cabo had the most beautiful eyes. I'm so happy to have had him even if it was a short amount of time. We love you Cabo!