Lily Girl

We lost a part of our family on Thursday. Lily was 12 years old and has had cancer for a few months. We had the tumor removed initially and she did quite well, but several months later it returned with a vengence and there was nothing that could be done except to give her prednisone which made it shrink and benadryl helped her feel more comfortable. She began losing weight rapidly and slowly lost her ability to stand. She was happy, ate and wagged her tail until the last day. Thursday she was noticeably worse and could not move at all.  We were blessed in that we were all able to say goodbye to her and she died very peacefully here at home.

Lily and Sampson bond…he was a trooper!

Lovin up their pup

When Lily was 2 we bred her with another local Yellow Lab. Oh my that was interesting. Sandy, the sire’s owner, and I did not really know what we were doing. They did their thing and he stayed in her – we were so confused and since he was a lot bigger than Lily, we thought maybe he was stuck. Sandy sprayed the hose on them – the boyz were asking what was happening. They got a precursor lesson in reproduction at 8.  We later found out that this is how it works – the male stays inside the female for a bit. Our ignorance was scary but fortunately all went well and 10 adorable pups were born on September 18, 2008.

Not the most beautiful shot but it is the real deal….

Lily was a sneaky girl who knew just where she wanted to have her pups. A friend brought over a whelping box for her to give birth in. We put it in the sunroom and blockaded her in there when we left for work. I came home at lunch to check on her and she was not in the sunroom. I heard a tiny noise from upstairs and followed the sound up to the boyz room. There Lily was giving birth on Casey’s bed! It was magical, beautiful, disgusting and unbelievable all at once. About 6 of them were born by the time I got there and she was getting tired. I called our friend, Jerry, and he came over in case there were any issues. I called Steve and he and the boyz came home as well.  It was such an amazing experience for me. I felt like it must feel to watch your sister give birth or something (OK, not quite the same) – in the way that you can fully embrace the magic that is birthing….in a way you cannot fully take in when you are the one delivering your baby/ies.

Poor picture quality but ……oh my cuteness!

Lily was a calm and gentle mother…she was a trooper feeding all 10 pups and just letting them on her as much as they wanted/needed.

Some outside time for the pups….

Checking on her pups

I fell in love with Pippen…he was the runt and sadly, did not make it. I don’t remember the last time I cried that hard 🙁

Casey had a special bond with Lily…after all, she gave birth on his bed!

Chillin by the fire

Lily and Drew sniffing around while we ski out back

At the vet a few weeks ago

Lily with 2 of her pups – Drew (left) and Bella (right)…so blessed to have had a ‘pup family reunion’ at Erin and Tim’s over Memorial Day weekend 🙂

At 12 years old, Lily had led a great life…full of play, love and lots of tolerance for the chaos that is our home!  So on Thursday we all said our goodbyes and then the boyz had to go to a National Honor Society dinner. They knew it would not be long and she ended up passing about 20 minutes after they left. Steve and I were right with her and it was very calm for her.

She started lying like this in the last month of so….

We are so grateful for what you brought to our lives Lily….for your gentle ways, your soft fur and your loving nature. We will miss you and always love you Lily girl 🙂

Lily fed the love for sure…

Many blessings,

Suzanne