It’s been almost four months since we had to have Ruby put to sleep, so we began our search for a new dog to add to our family last weekend. Our search didn’t last long… in fact, we found an adorable puppy that we just could not resist adopting on our first Humane Society visit (at the Maryland Heights location). Little was known about this pup except that she had been dropped off by someone on May 27 and was 4 months old (my guess is that she was either a stray or runaway). As far as the Humane Society workers knew, she didn’t even have a name! So they named her Trixie, spayed her and gave her the shots she needed and put her up on the Humane Society’s adoptable pet photos site. I guess they were told that she was a “lab mix,” but looking at her and seeing her behavior, we believe she is a full-blooded black lab (and from the looks of her paws, she’s probably going to end up being pretty big, too). She’s incredible sweet and loving, too. Very well behaved. We think she’ll be a great pet for us and a perfect companion for our son, Miles.

By the way, speaking of Miles, he and I took Trixie on her first walk to McDonald Park a few days ago, and she immediately ran into a large pool of rain water that had collected beneath one of the swing sets there and started splashing around (even sticking her face down in the dirty water):

Yep! That’s a lab, alright. No doubt about it.

Oh, and I also found a great message board online for Labrador Retrievers, too. So far it has been very helpful in answering a few of our questions about the breed. Check it out at Lab-Retriever.net.

Gina and I had to put our 10-year-old Golden Retriever, Ruby, to sleep tonight. She had had a baseball-sized tumor that she had carried with her on her right side the past couple of years, and it ruptured this past Monday, which not only meant that a very expensive surgery would have been required to remove it (in the neighborhood of $600), but that she, due to her age, plus having advanced infection from the growth (detected in a blood test), and also possible kidney problems, would also be in danger of never waking up from the anesthesia. There was also the added concern that a ruptured tumor indicated advancing cancer, and that even after it was removed, the cancer would continue to spread and her quality of life would have gone downhill rapidly and she may have only lasted another few months with us, anyway. So in considering all of the above, we felt it was just best to have her euthanized. At least our last memories of her were of her standing there looking at us lovingly and happily wagging her tail, as she always did.

She was the happiest, sweetest, and most playful dog I’ve ever owned, and she was my best buddy, always right there by my side no matter what it was I was doing. We will miss her dearly.