Goodbye Good Girl

I asked Rob if he was going to blog about Holly but he said he just couldn't do it. He's the type that needs to move on without talking about it much. So I will blog what I was going to blog last night.
I had heard about Holly for a year and a half before she became a part of my life. I knew that Rob had rescued her after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The guy he had rescued her from had lost everything in the hurricane. Rob says that it was the best $1000 he had ever spent. According to the stories I've been told, Holly went everywhere with Rob and quickly became his best friend. They were duck hunting partners and she was the best!
Fast forward to Christmas of 2008. We had driven to MS when I was 3 mos pregnant so we could bring her back with us. We already had my dog, Roxy, at the house so I wondered how they would get along. After getting to know each other, they became best friends. When we had to put Roxy down Holly moped around for quite awhile.
Holly was not just a dog. She was a family member. She watched over and protected P when he was born (Although she did get grumpy with him a couple times). She went places with us. She loved to cuddle with everyone that came over. She could spend all day with her head on your lap as long as you were petting her.
Right before we moved we thought she wasn't going to make it. She had become lethargic and was having a hard time getting up once she had laid down. But once we moved she rebounded and we were thankful we hadn't put her down after all. She enjoyed taking walks to the creek and to see the roosters. P, Holly, Ruby and I went exploring a lot. I became concerned last week when we had gone for our "King of the Mountain" walk and she refused to even attempt the hill, something she's always done with ease. Then the other night Rob called for her when he fed the dogs and she wouldn't come. He brought her her food and she refused to eat. It turns out that she had cancer and her stomach was full of blood when Rob took her to the vet. Putting her down was the hardest thing he's ever done. I wanted to be there to say my final goodbyes and support Rob but we knew P couldn't handle it. So I said my goodbyes to her after P and I had given her her final bath. It broke my heart because she was such a great dog. Selfishly I wanted her to live forever but I'm glad she's not suffering and glad that she's keeping Roxy company up in heaven. They're playing fetch together and hopefully she's teaching Roxy how to be the best duck dog.

Goodbye Holly Girl! You will be missed!!