THANK YOU!!!

I just want to say THANK YOU again to all of my wonderful friends and neighbors for putting posts of Jazmine on their blogs, for all the kind uplifting words, for all the flowers and goodies I could ever want, for saying goodbye to Jazmine and letting her know one last time how much you guys cared about her. I also want to say I'm sorry if I didn't tell you before I did it, or if you didn't know and didn't get to say goodbye and wanted to. It was really difficult for me to talk about it and even though I would think I had composed myself, as soon as the words came out of my mouth that we were going to be putting her down I would start to crack and by the end of my first sentence I was usually in tears. It was a very difficult decision deciding if it was time for her to go or not. I never imagined that kind of decision would be in my hands, usually Great Danes only live for 6-8 years and then they will go peacefully in their sleep because their heart just cant keep going. That is how it is for most large breed dogs and that is how I had played it out in my head, out of my hands. But Jazmine was far to faithful and loyal to just give up. I think she felt like she needed to be here for us, to keep us happy and safe. She would have lived forever because of how loyal she was. But I could see her quality of life slipping away, she no longer enjoyed all things she used to. She lost control of her bladder. She couldn't run and play anymore, her arthritis got the best of her and her feet were swollen all the time. Recently her hips didn't want to work anymore either. On the day she died I tried to take her for one last walk to take Jameson to school, it is only about 2 blocks away but on our way back her hips gave out and she fell down. She couldn't get back up so I had to lift her rear end for her and Rory ended up leaving us and going to get his truck to pick us up. When we got home she got all the treats she could handle, a nice steak lunch and we laid out in the sun together just like we used to. She loved laying in the sun on her back, legs wide open. Not the prettiest sight, trust me. I used to tell her she looked like she was posing for "PlayDog"! But, I could tell she was in a lot of pain that day, I feel like that was the sign that it really was time. We didn't want to take Jazmine into the vets office to do it, I wanted her home where she belonged and where she was comfortable and happy. The vet came to our house and I sat in her bed with her. Telling her thank you and what a wonderful life we had together, I told her how much I loved her and who would be waiting on the other side and that I will be there soon enough. I told her to be happy and it was okay to go now. She died with her head in my lap, hearing my voice and feeling my touch. She went peacefully to sleep and then we laid her to rest in our back yard. We made a beautiful headstone out of a cement stepping stone and put her paw print in it so I will always be able to see just how big my gentle giant was. This was the hardest decision I have ever had to make, but I am at peace with it. I know she was hurting and I know she wasn't happy anymore. I will always miss Jazmine and I will always be sad when I think of her not being here. But I will be happy knowing she is happy now too. Thanks again to all of you for all the nice things you have done! I really appreciate it so much!!!