Rest in Peace Little Blackie

We noticed Blackie was having hard time keeping up on 4th of July.  But he's an old dog - we've had him 13 years!






He showed up at the back gate full grown after roaming the park for a week then following a neighbor across the street - all 5 lanes of Mission traffic. 
Another neighbor started feeding him 3 days after he showed up in the neighborhood, but I didn't know that. All I knew was this scraggly street dog was camped under my bedroom window whining day and night, and we had to do something.


He was wild. We used the dogs to lure him in, but he wouldn't let us touch him. We backed him in a corner with a puppy gate, looped a leash around his neck, and dropped him at the vet's for a bath and check up.

I was 4 months pregnant with two dogs.  We made posters.

I contacted the local rescue organization and agreed to foster until we found a good home. Doug couldn't bear to bring him to the pound. We gave him a temporary name because he was a temporary dog.

I took him to an adoption fair, but every time someone looked at him, Blackie wedged further between my legs and shook like a leaf.



He was a good boy and learned fast. Everyone liked him, but he was Booga's dog. Mom said, "he's a once in a lifetime doggie!" So he stayed...

He was scared to hang in the house and thought we were trying to poison him with treats.  It took a couple of years, but slowly he felt safe.



My son was born.

First Katana, then Kenai died.








Bella came 4 years ago. Blackie accepted her like everyone else that's come in and out of our lives over the years. Already turning gray, he became Blackie the White. Finally, we could get a decent picture and stopped stepping on him in the dark, though to the very end, he had this incredible knack for walking exactly where you were going.

Blackie didn't feel good last Sunday. His belly hurt, but he started eating Monday when I called the vet. Come Thursday, it was bad again so we went, and ran all the tests, but there wasn't anything obvious.

We went to the emergency room on Friday.  They found cancer in his liver and spleen, and a mass bearing down on his urethra with imminent kidney failure.

The Doctor sent us home with pain meds for hospice care, but he refused to take the meds and hadn't eaten since Wednesday night. Yesterday she helped end the pain.

Profoundly sad I am, missing the dog who stayed and wouldn't leave - even when it hurt so bad.