When it comes to our pets, life is really too short. In our Duke's case, it was shorter than most. Just 16 months ago, Mark and I rescued Duke from a local animal shelter. He was a beautiful chocolate brown German Shorthair pup about 8 months old. We got to be with him for about half a day before we handed him off to his new family: my sister Sara, her husband Aaron and their English Pointer, Mollie.
On Wednesday, Duke developed GDV (known as bloat), and his stomach flipped with his intestines twisted around it. They tried emergency surgery but this morning discovered the stitches wouldn't hold. They tried to repair those with a second surgery but he didn't make it.
He joins our Flounder in the land of the slow-moving squirrels, as well as his predecessor Gunner, who died of cancer a month before we rescued Duke. He also joins another sister's two dogs Max and Paisley, whom we also lost this past year.
As hard as it is on all of us, it's probably hardest on poor Mollie who lost two of her companions now.
We'll miss you Duke.
