Goodbye Sierra our dear friend

Shawnne awoke around 7am today and found our dog Sierra sprawled out on the floor.  She could barely walk. Not a good sign. She had been declining for some time and it was obvious by 2011.  She has had diabetes since 2008,  and for some time she thrived under her insulin treatment but by 2011 she was losing weight again.  She has been partially blind since early 2011, and mostly blind now. That was all  a sympton of the diabetes.  Her hearing had also been declining for a few years.   Last spring she seemed to be suffering from seizures more often than previously but that seemed to be controlled if I could keep her cool when walking.  I carried a spray bottle of water and that seemed to help a lot.  More recently she was suffering from seizures without an obvious connection to her activity or diet.  This morning Shawnne and I decided it was time to end her misery.

She had been part of our life since April of 2000 when we lived in Annandale, NJ.  So she has been on 3 moves with us. She was a few months older than 14 but we never knew her exact age. She has been a good friend to us, particularly when I was away working in Memphis, TN and Shawnne was back in Randall. We will have to survive without her assistance now but I think she has trained us well.