Zack
A donation was made in memory of Zack by Doctors and Staff of the Alpine Veterinary Hospital on Apr 06, 2011.
Hello,
It's been a year since Zack has passed away - 4-05-10. Dr. Craig Vance at Alpine Veterinary Hospital has made a generous donation to the Pet Memorial Program in honor of Zack my wonderful Lab. It has taken me a while to think how I would like to remember him and what to put on your site. Thank you for the opportunity to tell his story...
It has been a year since I lost my good buddy Zack. He was almost 12. He was a rescue dog that I had never really intended on getting. It's funny how life works out sometime. I had dogs when I was younger, mutts mostly, and I always enjoyed playing, running and wrestling with them. It wasn't until much later in adulthood that I thought about getting another dog. At first I started looking in shelters to see if I could find an energetic dog that could go hiking, camping, running, biking and kayaking with me. After a little research I thought some kind of Lab or Golden Retriever mix-mutt of some sort would be the perfect dog. What I did not expect to find was the overwhelming population of neglected, abused and abandoned dogs in our nations shelters. It was absolutely heartbreaking!
I was feeling pretty sad about all the abandoned dogs to the point where I wanted to do something, even more than just adopt a dog but to help out in some small way. Of course I wanted to save every one of them - don't we all - but we are only limited to what we can do. I contacted a Lab/Golden rescue organization and told them I wanted to help. I was immediately put to work! My first assignment was to pick up some dogs at two shelters and bring them to a central rescue home where they would be groomed, given any needed medical care, and then placed in other foster homes until they could be adopted. At the time I had an old VW bus which was perfect for transporting a bunch of lively rescue dogs to their temporary homes. So off I went on my first dog rescue mission! Between both shelters I picked up a male Golden Lab, two female mixes and a big burly four year old yellow Lab. The yellow Lab almost pulled me into the dirt the moment I took his leash. I thought my arm was going to be disconnected from its socket! Not to mention the slobbering and how much he wanted to share that slobber with big dog kisses to the mouth! The two females had just been spayed so they still had their lamp shades on. The males were like coiled springs ready to come undone at any second. Put all these elements into a VW van driving down the road, and you have the makings of a dog party that knows no bounds!
First the windows started steaming up from all the panting. This was mostly due to all of them trying to hump one another in various positions, getting their lamp shades stuck between the seats, being humped while said lamp shades are stuck, and then deciding that it is all a big game and that they should repeat it over and over....and over. But if that was the only problem it would have been fine. After all the action was mostly in the back of the bus. But no, they decided it would be much more fun if they came up in the front seat with the driver and then try to hump each other, get their lamp shades stuck, and bark out the window that I had rolled down to try to alleviate the "dog fog" that was building up on the windshield that was obscuring my vision. Needless to say I got some very strange looks from passing cars wondering what was going on with the VW bus that was rocking back and forth with the dog-tail-head-paw prints smearing across the steamed up windows. Needless to say I was very glad when that dog mission was over!
Not long after a freind of mine called and said there was another yellow Lab that needed a home because she knew I was looking for a dog and I was helping out a rescue organization. I called the number the next day and the foster home said someone had just picked up the dog. No problem I thought to myself, another dog that has found a home. Two weeks later I get another call about the same Lab, it turns out that the couple who picked him up had severe allergy problems and could not keep him and asked if I was interested. I told them I would stop over and even if I did not keep him I could find him a home through the organization I was helping out. They agreed and I picked him up. He was an 18 month old yellow Lab named Jake and he was absolutely CRAZY. The first thing he did when we got home was to grab my shoe and run through the house for a long game of keep-a-way. Then when I finally got the shoe back he decided the TV remote needed a good chewing and while he was at it the coffee table needed to be marked with a quick squirt. That was the first day, which made me think just how much of an "allergy" the previous couple had. To make a long story even longer I ultimately ended up keeping him and changed his name to Zack after a wild and crazy river raft guide friend of mine I knew from a few years back who loved to live life to the fullest. And that was really what Zack was about, we used to call him the "Zen-dog" because he was fully where he was when he was at any given moment no matter what he was doing!
Zack taught me a lot, more than I can say, his antics and stories, his adventures with me hiking, traveling, swimming, could easily fill a book. Many times the retelling of those stories would often bring a smile to all those who knew and loved him. The day I had to let him go, I carried him down to the river where he loved to play and swim, the sun was shinning and the grass was green and the day was warm. We napped there in the sun for few hours, he was able to eat some of his favorite snack - roasted chicken. The vet came and I held him in my arms and told him what a great dog he was and that I loved him. He slipped quietly away on that sunny day in April by the river surrounded by those that loved him.
Van M.
It's been a year since Zack has passed away - 4-05-10. Dr. Craig Vance at Alpine Veterinary Hospital has made a generous donation to the Pet Memorial Program in honor of Zack my wonderful Lab. It has taken me a while to think how I would like to remember him and what to put on your site. Thank you for the opportunity to tell his story...
It has been a year since I lost my good buddy Zack. He was almost 12. He was a rescue dog that I had never really intended on getting. It's funny how life works out sometime. I had dogs when I was younger, mutts mostly, and I always enjoyed playing, running and wrestling with them. It wasn't until much later in adulthood that I thought about getting another dog. At first I started looking in shelters to see if I could find an energetic dog that could go hiking, camping, running, biking and kayaking with me. After a little research I thought some kind of Lab or Golden Retriever mix-mutt of some sort would be the perfect dog. What I did not expect to find was the overwhelming population of neglected, abused and abandoned dogs in our nations shelters. It was absolutely heartbreaking!
I was feeling pretty sad about all the abandoned dogs to the point where I wanted to do something, even more than just adopt a dog but to help out in some small way. Of course I wanted to save every one of them - don't we all - but we are only limited to what we can do. I contacted a Lab/Golden rescue organization and told them I wanted to help. I was immediately put to work! My first assignment was to pick up some dogs at two shelters and bring them to a central rescue home where they would be groomed, given any needed medical care, and then placed in other foster homes until they could be adopted. At the time I had an old VW bus which was perfect for transporting a bunch of lively rescue dogs to their temporary homes. So off I went on my first dog rescue mission! Between both shelters I picked up a male Golden Lab, two female mixes and a big burly four year old yellow Lab. The yellow Lab almost pulled me into the dirt the moment I took his leash. I thought my arm was going to be disconnected from its socket! Not to mention the slobbering and how much he wanted to share that slobber with big dog kisses to the mouth! The two females had just been spayed so they still had their lamp shades on. The males were like coiled springs ready to come undone at any second. Put all these elements into a VW van driving down the road, and you have the makings of a dog party that knows no bounds!
First the windows started steaming up from all the panting. This was mostly due to all of them trying to hump one another in various positions, getting their lamp shades stuck between the seats, being humped while said lamp shades are stuck, and then deciding that it is all a big game and that they should repeat it over and over....and over. But if that was the only problem it would have been fine. After all the action was mostly in the back of the bus. But no, they decided it would be much more fun if they came up in the front seat with the driver and then try to hump each other, get their lamp shades stuck, and bark out the window that I had rolled down to try to alleviate the "dog fog" that was building up on the windshield that was obscuring my vision. Needless to say I got some very strange looks from passing cars wondering what was going on with the VW bus that was rocking back and forth with the dog-tail-head-paw prints smearing across the steamed up windows. Needless to say I was very glad when that dog mission was over!
Not long after a freind of mine called and said there was another yellow Lab that needed a home because she knew I was looking for a dog and I was helping out a rescue organization. I called the number the next day and the foster home said someone had just picked up the dog. No problem I thought to myself, another dog that has found a home. Two weeks later I get another call about the same Lab, it turns out that the couple who picked him up had severe allergy problems and could not keep him and asked if I was interested. I told them I would stop over and even if I did not keep him I could find him a home through the organization I was helping out. They agreed and I picked him up. He was an 18 month old yellow Lab named Jake and he was absolutely CRAZY. The first thing he did when we got home was to grab my shoe and run through the house for a long game of keep-a-way. Then when I finally got the shoe back he decided the TV remote needed a good chewing and while he was at it the coffee table needed to be marked with a quick squirt. That was the first day, which made me think just how much of an "allergy" the previous couple had. To make a long story even longer I ultimately ended up keeping him and changed his name to Zack after a wild and crazy river raft guide friend of mine I knew from a few years back who loved to live life to the fullest. And that was really what Zack was about, we used to call him the "Zen-dog" because he was fully where he was when he was at any given moment no matter what he was doing!
Zack taught me a lot, more than I can say, his antics and stories, his adventures with me hiking, traveling, swimming, could easily fill a book. Many times the retelling of those stories would often bring a smile to all those who knew and loved him. The day I had to let him go, I carried him down to the river where he loved to play and swim, the sun was shinning and the grass was green and the day was warm. We napped there in the sun for few hours, he was able to eat some of his favorite snack - roasted chicken. The vet came and I held him in my arms and told him what a great dog he was and that I loved him. He slipped quietly away on that sunny day in April by the river surrounded by those that loved him.
Van M.
