AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
Those of you who followed my elk hunting journal last summer and fall know the story of our white German shepherd Thor and his battle with cancer. After surgery and treatments, his prognosis looked great. Unfortunately, three weeks ago today, we took him to the vet because he wasn't feeling well. Chest x-rays revealed three new tumors in his chest and our vet said we had about a month, maybe two before we'd see his quality of life drop. It hasn't even been a month and we're devastated. Yesterday he woke up a completely different dog than he was Tuesday and we can't watch him suffer. I just called our vet and she is coming over at 1000 this morning to put him at peace.
He wasn't a hunting dog, but he was one of our protectors. He wasn't a fan of most guys and, as a result, most guys kept a safe distance from my family. Anyone that would have tried to come in the house uninvited would have had to shoot him to get him to release his jaws from their throat. I watched him and our female (Jake) back down groups of 20+ illegal immigrants on the US/Mexico border, including some armed bad guys. He loved being outdoors with us and was on every camping trip, fishing trip, and a few hunting trips. My favorite day of elk shed hunting had him and Jake by my side. He wasn't named after a comic book hero, but the real Norse God. His bark was his hammer and that's all he ever needed to get his point across! He's given us 10 great years of loyalty, protection, and unconditional love. I know I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the human he thought I was.
Please keep my family in your prayers, especially my daughter. She has a soccer tournament in Phoenix this weekend and we are going to have to keep ourselves strong so that we can keep her strong and focused. She is taking this news pretty hard. We all are, actually.
If you don't mind, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pics of him over the years as a tribute to the loyal, protective dog he has been.
He loved standing next to me when I was fishing. He loved to chase the lure or fly if I was fly fishing.
Every time I see this broken tip, it reminds me of him that day.
A great day of shed hunting.
This past December after a good snow storm. His demeanor and protective nature with our kids is every reason why I'll never be without at least one German shepherd in my family.
He wasn't a hunting dog, but he was one of our protectors. He wasn't a fan of most guys and, as a result, most guys kept a safe distance from my family. Anyone that would have tried to come in the house uninvited would have had to shoot him to get him to release his jaws from their throat. I watched him and our female (Jake) back down groups of 20+ illegal immigrants on the US/Mexico border, including some armed bad guys. He loved being outdoors with us and was on every camping trip, fishing trip, and a few hunting trips. My favorite day of elk shed hunting had him and Jake by my side. He wasn't named after a comic book hero, but the real Norse God. His bark was his hammer and that's all he ever needed to get his point across! He's given us 10 great years of loyalty, protection, and unconditional love. I know I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the human he thought I was.
Please keep my family in your prayers, especially my daughter. She has a soccer tournament in Phoenix this weekend and we are going to have to keep ourselves strong so that we can keep her strong and focused. She is taking this news pretty hard. We all are, actually.
If you don't mind, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pics of him over the years as a tribute to the loyal, protective dog he has been.
He loved standing next to me when I was fishing. He loved to chase the lure or fly if I was fly fishing.
Every time I see this broken tip, it reminds me of him that day.
A great day of shed hunting.
This past December after a good snow storm. His demeanor and protective nature with our kids is every reason why I'll never be without at least one German shepherd in my family.
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