HEARTBROKEN OUR DEAR BOY GIO HAS GONE TO THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

It is only now as 2 months have passed that I can bear to put into words how I feel about losing my beloved dog Gio to cancer on 17th March 2011. Every time I wake in the morning I still expect to see him and hear him give his first woof of the day as we head downstairs to go out to the garden and to give him his breakfast along with Chloe & Molly. There is a huge hole in my heart, only another dog lover can really know what it is like when a much loved doggie member of the family dies, they really are a family member and you do go through such a grieving process, even though in your heart you know that the decision you made was what was best for your beloved dog.

On the day before Gio died he seemed to have a final hurrah and rallied enough to go for a walk and was enjoying himself, rolling over on his back in the field and wanting his tummy rubbed. He even found a stick that he started chewing at. It made the heart wrenching decision that we had been dreading so much harder, should we wait another few days or should we let him go out on a relative high, and with the dignity he so deserved. That night was an agony of long discussions, prayer and tossing and turning. Gio lay next to me on the bed as I cuddled him, knowing in my heart that our boy would soon be going home.

We decided that we could only bear it, if the vet came to our home, the wait was awful, Gio always hated going to the vets so we didn't want to have his last few hours with us upset, we wanted to keep things as normal as possible right up to the end. The wait for the vet Adam to come seemed an eternity and one that filled both Rene & my heart with dread, even though we knew we were doing what was right for Gio. Just before the vet arrived we had given Gio a lovely bacon smelling chew bone, which in typical Gio fashion he took too, he loved his chews, he just happily chewed on it and even wagged his tail when Adam & the nurse came in. Our hearts were literally churning as the full force of what was going to happen hit us as Adam got Gio ready as he lay on his blanket still chewing on his bone. We cuddled him and told him how much we loved him and stroked him as he gently went to sleep, with the bone still in his mouth, it helped us to see that there was no fear or upset on his part, he just went to sleep happy. My husband and I just clung to each other after the vet left and at last for me the tears just poured out, as I had been trying to be brave, for all our sakes. We have our dear boy buried in the back garden, next to our dear Ceilidh who went to the Rainbow bridge nine years ago. We dearly miss Gio our lovely boy, and will never forget him and the joy and happiness he brought to our lives, he was a special boy, a loveable rogue

Hope you are having a wonderful time Gio with Ceilidh & Buster at the Rainbow bridge

we love and miss you all, thank you for your love and faithfulness

Lorraine & Rene