On Wednesday, 10/11/2006, our boy Duke lost his battle with all that he had been fighting for the last year .. his lifelong battle with environmental allergies, his bad hips, then the pancreas/liver attack in Oct, '05 & then the kidney failure in August where he went for several days not able to hold anything on his stomach & not making water ... even tho he would try, he could only pee just a few drops at a time .. and even tho he got back to where he was actually urinating a LOT in the last couple of weeks, it just never had any color to it so it was pretty obvious that his kidneys weren't really filtering his system.

The toxins just finally built up until his whole system started shutting down  .. it was really hard for him to get up off the floor  ...  he had to struggle to make it up on the couch or the bed the last week .. the morning of 10/11 I had to really coax him to eat & that afternoon, he followed Tom out to the back yard & just layed there at his feet .. didn't even flinch when the flies or mosquitoes buzzed him .. never moved when Lady & Bubba went after a squirrel .. he was just exhausted & you could tell he was ready.  That night while we were eating dinner, Duke had to go potty & even tho he struggled to get up, he wasn't able & he peed on himself.  It was time.

He did finally manage to get up with Tom's help while I was calling the vet & he went outside & did his business but it was a struggle for him to walk even that short distance.  We put him in the car & he did manage to walk in to the hospital with dignity under his own steam but that was it.  He layed down on the cool tile floor in the office & even when the tech shaved his leg & inserted the catheter, he didn't flinch ... this is the dog that it took 4 adults to restrain while the vet removed 6 stitches from him at one time .. the dog who wouldn't allow ANYONE to mess with his feet .. who would very vocally growl if I tried to check a foot for injury or trim a toenail  ..  he acted like he just didn't have the will to care anymore.

Tom was sitting in the floor with him & he passed to the Bridge with his head cradled in his Daddy's big hands.  He is with Gigi & God this morning.

These pictures were taken about 2 yrs ago ...  before he started downhill with the liver problems & the renal failure.  He was his "Daddy's Boy" ....  and there will never be another like him.  His passing has left a BIG hole in our hearts.