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| Great big beautiful Benjamin |
Daniel's beloved golden retriever, Benjamin, died early this morning. Benjamin was adopted through an agency in Fredericksburg, back in 2006, when he was just under two years old and kept wandering from the small yard of a suburban home there. This means that in 2018, Benjamin would have been almost an unheard of fourteen years old for a large breed ! Benjamin was also a little larger than the breed standard. He enjoyed an excellent life here and was loved very much. He received extra love and care after his "boy died". Daniel would have wanted Benjamin, especially, who had a puppy temperament and would mouthe everything, to have received extra loving care.
Benjamin was quite healthy up to about this week. We knew that the extreme cold outside placed him at risk, and so he was coming in from the kennel to the basement at night. We knew last night that something was a little off. He was very tired and wanted to sleep rather than play. Very late last night we noticed Cheyne-Stokes respirations, and I sat with him for a couple of hours. He was peacefully sleeping by four am, and I slept a couple of hours then myself. I arose at five am, to find a newly deceased and still warm dog. Gosh, even at fourteen plus years old, he was still a gorgeous dog. He will be buried here on the farm, the day after tomorrow.
Thank you for trusting us and coming home with me that day, Benjamin. I wouldn't have missed having you here for the world. I know Daniel and Dad will look after you, until we see each other again. I love you, Buddy.
This is an earlier post that discusses the adoption of Benjamin:
https://lifeaftertherescues.blogspot.com/2015/11/recalling-lucky-acquisition-of-benjamin.html
You will be missed, you great big cuddly Benjaminal hunk of dog....
