Labs
We've Loved and Lost
Tucker
May 22, 2000 - November 29, 2006
Tucker was just shy of sixteen months when we met him at the Gensons', the home where he was being fostered. The day is easy to remember. It was September 10, 2001. We picked him up to take him home two days later.
He was an AKC certified Yellow Lab who didn't meet the expectations of the couple who bought him as a puppy. After a traumatic stay at a Humane Society in Minnesota he was less than a day away from being put to sleep. L.E.A.R.N. found out and saved him for us.
This huge guy was pretty intimidating to Garrett, who was not quite eleven and small for his age. Tucker was always incredibly enthusiastic (or hyper,) when meeting friends and new people. At 78 pounds he outweighed Garrett by twenty and eventually topped out at 102. We took Tucker for a walk to settle him down and got to know him enough to begin to love him. We decided on the way home he would be a great dog for us.
We crated him for a short time. However, he proved to be an incredibly trustworthy house dog and spent his days guarding our home from front to back door. He knew the only place he could dig at inside was the large pickle crock where we stored his toys. His favorites included tuggy ropes, squeaky toys and his Kong.
Tucker loved long walks, car rides and swims. We lived in a house which had an indoor pool and Tucker would swim to the point of exhaustion. But there was a catch. He would only enter the water if a tennis ball was thrown to the center of the deep end so he could do a full body dive at it and swim it to the edge.
We eventually moved to the country which cost us the pool, but opened up the back yard to empty fields where he could go out and run as much as he wanted.
In addition to his hyperactivity we sensed he was getting lonely so we added Lady (a sweet Chocolate Lab,) in February of 2003. This made the family complete. He continued to attach himself to us when we were home and followed us everywhere, but he seemed much more content.
Late in the summer of 2006 Tuck became difficult to feed. After his initial weight gain early on he maintained himself in much the way a cat does. He didn't over eat and was pretty picky about what he would eat. When he refused his food this time we figured he was being stubborn.
He slowly lost some pounds but still looked and behaved healthy so we didn't worry much. We were just frustrated trying to find something for him he would like.
The weekend before Thanksgiving he barely ate or drank anything for almost three days. We noticed a yellowing of the eyes and took him to the vet who was instantly alarmed at his condition. Jaundice. Liver damage.
None of us saw this coming. We had Tucker at the vet to treat an open sore on his leg just a week before and Doc didn't spot anything out of the ordinary.
The treatments began at once. Two liters of fluids were IV'd and a series of vitamins, Kaopectate, Pedialyte and prayers were administered in the hope his liver would rebound. Initially he felt better. He ate some on his own and displayed some energy. It was very tough on Sue and me to force feed him his pills and Pedialyte but we agreed it was in his best interest to do so.
Tucker returned to the vet on an almost daily basis for more fluids for about a week before we decided to do the IVs at home. Doc Williams left the stint in his leg and Sue used to be an EMT so we treated him at home. Every time Doc saw him he was heartened by his energy level and his willingness to fight for his life.
After Thanksgiving, this changed. The only way to get food into him was to water it down, put it into a syringe and shoot it to the back of his throat so he would swallow it. His belly swelled up with fluids which we had drained on the 28th. Again, he looked better and displayed surprising strength when I walked him to the car to come home.
The next day he slid steeply downhill. He couldn't stand up very well and was not urinating at all. Garrett and I left for the evening and Sue spent that time talking to him while watching him labor for breath and go through convulsions. When we got home Tucker was in bad shape. He rose slowly from the floor to greet me one last time and I carried him to the hide-a-bed where we had spent much of the previous week caring for him. I cuddled him for a little while, knowing he was about to leave us and wanting desperately for him to make it through the night so we could get him to Doc Williams to put him to sleep.
A short while later it was obvious he was in misery and could not make it through the night so I called a 24/7 vet service in Middleton to have him put down at once. Garrett said his goodbyes, choked with tears. Sue and I wrapped Tucker in a blanket and ran him out to the Caravan where he had one more convulsion and died on his dog bed which we had placed there shortly before.
Sue sat with him briefly with a stethoscope to make sure he was truly gone before we shut the door. I wrapped him completely in the blanket and said my final goodbye. We took him to Doc the next morning to arrange Tucker's cremation.
In retrospect (and after a lot of web research,) we are of the opinion Tucker suffered from a chronically upset stomach which led to ulcers and then the degradation of his liver. He was never a chow hound and ate a lot of grass in the yard, which we are told is an indication of a sour stomach. Over the last couple of months he ate less and cried more. We suspect the cries were because he was hurting and didn't know how to tell us where the hurt was. By the time the more serious symptoms cropped up it was too late to save him.
It is amazing to us how much Tucker brought to our family in the five short years we had him. He didn't play fetch, didn't know a whole lot of tricks and didn't particularly like to cuddle. But he showed unabashed love for his family and was our constant companion whenever we were together.
We will miss him jumping at the door to greet us, those big ears flopping up and down as he disappeared and reappeared in the window of the door. We will miss him bringing his Kong to us and making Darth Vader noises into it while he held it out for us to fill. We will miss "London Bridges" where he would run through our legs, circle around and repeat as long as we would let him. We will even miss the sometimes embarrassing spectacle of grabbing his bed with his teeth and humping it across the floor. We will miss him, period.
We all want to thank L.E.A.R.N. for all they did to set us up with both our dogs. Tucker is a part of our lives forever and we will meet him again someday.
Sue, Garrett and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to eulogize him here on the site where we first met him. We are eternally grateful to L.E.A.R.N. for helping to bring Tucker into our lives and into our hearts.
Sincerely, Carl, Sue, Garrett and Lady Gitchel