Clyde

4/4/03 – 11/17/11

Clyde was beautiful. He was beloved. He was the best dog in the world! And he left us when much too young (8 ½). Our 10th foster dog, Clyde was a hot commodity when his photos were posted on the GRR website. Our plan had always been to adopt the older harder-to-place dogs and Clyde was only four, nicely trained, with no bad habits (unless you call food-stealing, paper-shredding, and a stubborn streak bad habits). But wait a minute! I can’t let this one go! He was just so sweet and easygoing, with the softest brown eyes and not an alpha bone in his body. Which made him the perfect foster brother to the next 10 foster dogs that followed him. 

Clyde always had a slightly wonky walk and he slowed down a little more each year. An x-ray showed a bullet in his leg, and he was also diagnosed with spinal stenosis/arthritis. But then something worse kicked in, likely a spinal tumor, and he went downhill very rapidly – we called it “assisted living.” Clyde struggled to get up, then collapsed when he did, and finally was unable to move on his own at all. The vet he’d been going to for acupuncture summed it up: “He’s unhappy, he’s uncomfortable, and he’s embarrassed.” His time on earth with us was up.

I’m sure another wonderful golden will follow in his pawsteps some day, but right now it is hard to imagine one as thoroughly fabulous as Clyde. Sniffle.