Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The Passing of Shadow

One of our family dogs passed away last night. His name was Shadow. He was a Black Lab. I loved that dog. He was the most friendly and easy going dog I have ever met. When we lived in Park City, UT he frequently shared his dinner with a fox that came down from the foothills.

He was afraid of the Moose that wandered by, but was never angry with anyone or anything. He loved cats, dogs, birds, and as just mentioned, foxes.

His favorite game was fetch, though he didn't play by the standard rules. His version included him putting his football in his mouth and then trying to get you to try and get it away from him. My youngest son, was the only one in the family that could chase him down and get the ball.

He loved to play catch at the side of the pool. The game was played with us having a small basketball in the pool, and he would try to catch it standing next to the pool. The ball was too big for him to catch, but he loved to play the game. We would try to throw the ball to him in just such a way, that it would bounce back and make a basket in the pool backboard.

Shadow, you were truly man's best fried. You will be sorely missed. Hopefully, you'll find someone in heaven to play "fetch" and water basketball with you until we get there.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shadow was the most patient dog I knew. One time our youngest son was eating a sucker outside and Shadow licked it, our son stewed on that indignity for about an hour and then went back and bite shadow. Other than a yelp of pain Shadow did nothing, he could have killed a small child easily but he did not. His friendship will truly be missed.

Unknown said...

Dan - I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Shadow . . . it is so difficult when a beloved family pet passes on to the other side of the veil.

I love the story Anonymous shared -- wow, I need to get another dog.

Dan Olsen said...

Thank you for your kind words. He had been heading downhill for the last two weeks, so we knew it was just a matter of time. We hoped that he would make it through Christmas, which he did.

When I really want to petition the Lord on something, I have my boys pray. He listens to all of us, but my boys' ability to get powerful answers to prayers is amazing. Point being, Shadow passed peacefully in the night, and though he slowed down tremendously of late, he was still waggin his tail to the end. I don't believe that he suffered. That has been our prayer for the last two weeks.