Andrew Schrauben

From Haven & Beacon

Happy birthday Haven and Beacon! My dogs turned 5 years old yesterday (Haven) and today (Beacon) and we celebrated in style. Beyond the new West Paw Tux toys, silly party hats and whipped cream 'n bread "birthday cake", I also took both dogs down to the river.

From Haven & Beacon

We ran one mile of trails to get there, then I tried not to fall down the steep, muddy hill that descends to the water. Sometimes I throw sticks for them, but this time I went into the river with the dogs, wading upstream as they swam along beside me. After a long night of heavy thunderstorms, the river was deeper than usual and running fast - Haven and Beacon couldn't keep up with me! I had the advantage of long legs that could keep contact with the river bottom to push me forward.

A few times I walked toward shore where the pups could take a breather in shallow water before mushing onward, but eventually we got to a point where the current was flowing so quickly that the dogs could no longer make headway! Time to turn around, and boy was the "float" back downstream an easy one.

While my dogs got to have fun on their birthdays, it's been a rough summer for the dogs of some of my friends. Six weeks ago Paul unexpectedly lost his beloved yellow lab Sky from a heart attack during hip surgery. Sarah's fluffy akita, George, died of bloat on Saturday. Not a day later, Matt and Lisa's greyhound mix Eddie succumbed to cancer just a month after the diagnosis.

All three dogs were exceedingly loved and are dearly missed by my friends. I feel so sad for them - it's just so devastating to lose a furry family member. One hard truth about dogs is that they just don't live long enough - a 10-15 year life expectancy means that the end will always be too soon.

Sky, George, and Eddie all lived wonderful lives and as time heals the grief, hopefully my friends will remember how lucky they and their dogs were to have had each other for so many years.

So much sad news, but it's also a happy day that I'm able to celebrate the 5th birthdays of my two dogs. When they go it will be too soon, but hopefully there will be many more trail runs, river swims, treats and birthdays in between.