One year of wedded bliss

Celebrating one year of marriage together: sushi at the Sumo in Park City. 
Posh condo in Deer Valley for the weekend, thanks to Brandon's boss! And thanks to Brandon's mom and brother for watching the pups so we could have a weekend away. It was so nice to have uninterrupted sleep!
We hiked around Deer Valley resort and found this picture perfect spot.
Ya, we could really get used to this extravagant living! We had a great time getting away from it all and just focusing on each other and having fun. We watched movies, played pool, soaked in the hot tub in the crisp mountain air, ate yummy food in Park City, hiked, and just relaxed! It was such a great weekend and I think we fell in love all over again!

Another New Edition

We did it again! We couldn't resist, and now we have another puppy at home. She looks a lot like Zoey, I know, and that was how she caught our eye on KSL.com. Little Annie is an 8 week old German short-hair pointer mix and so darn cute! 
At first Cole wasn't too sure about this new addition, but it only took a few days and now they are fast friends. He has been through a lot these past few weeks; losing his sister Zoey, getting neutered and now living with another new dog. He's happy though because now he is the Alpha Dog, and has a play mate again! 
She is a sweetheart, but man- am I tired all over again! We are still thinking of Zoey every day and missing her, but we felt like it was time to turn our sadness into happy times and give Cole a play mate again. She's so little and adorable and despite all the work, it is really fun to have a puppy again.

Rest In Peace Zoey girl

After an unexpected turn for the worst on Friday and sudden deterioration following Zoey's surgery our precious little Zoey girl died. We are so devastated by the loss of our sweet little puppy. The doctor thinks that she might have had an ulcer in her stomach from all the medications and stress of this whole situation, then it perforated causing massive infection which caused her to go into shock and die. 

All day Friday she wouldn't eat or drink and was obviously much more uncomfortable and unable to be calmed.  Brandon stayed up all night with her Thurs while I was at work, laying on his sleeping bag next to her on the floor. There he stayed all day while I tried to get some sleep and had to go back to work that night. Soon after I left she got much worse and without going into too many details, she died while Brandon was trying to get her back down to the hospital.

We decided to write down some memories and some loving messages to her in the box she was buried in. I never knew I could love something so much. Before we got Cole and Zoey I didn't even really much care for dogs. But they became our constant companions always giving us so much joy and unconditional love.
We felt the best place to have her buried was in our backyard. It is a very peaceful place with the mountains all around and wildflowers blooming on the hillside next to her. Brandon spent most of the day Saturday digging in the hard ground of clay and rocks. His brother Chris helped as well. It was pouring rain for part of the day so they had to stop until it cleared up. I cried about as much as it rained.
Just after we finished our little "funeral service" a rainbow appeared in the sky. We decided that is was a sign from Zoey that she is happy in doggy heaven- running and jumping around now, not suffering any longer. 
Zoey- you will never be forgotten and can never be replaced. We love you so much and are so sad that we couldn't have you in our lives for very long. Next week she would be 6 months old, much too young to leave this life. But we think she had a much better life in her short time than many dogs have in a whole lifetime. She was the most affectionate and loving dog I have ever known. We are trying to remember all the fun and great times we had with her and we're so glad we still have Cole. Her spirit lives on and we're grateful to have had our time with her. Rest in peace Zoey girl.

If love could heal

Sunday- Zoey's first day post-op. She seemed so much more comfortable, despite the metal fixators protruding from her back. There's nothing we wouldn't do to make her better.
Daddy loves his little girl. He has such a calming presence, she would immediately relax when Brandon was there to give her some love.
Tuesday- With the help of a towel sling to support some of her weight, the hospital staff started doing standing exercises with her. She did show signs of bearing some weight on her own, and still had good reflexes and some movement in hind legs.
Sometimes though, her poor little legs just dangled there like they forgot how to move. This must have been so frustrating for our girl who was so used to running and jumping all around.

We took Zoey home on Wednesday evening where we would continue to care for her and help try to rehabilitate her. The doctor ordered her to be on strict "cage-rest" for 6 weeks, so we knew it was the start of a long road. But at least she would be home with us where she would feel our constant love and attention and be in her familiar surroundings so that her healing would be optimal. It was hard work, but we knew it was worth it.

A broken back and broken hearts

Our sweet little Zoey girl came from a dog that was quite a jumper. The German short-hair pointer jumped the 6 ft fence into the kennel of the labrador that was in "heat." And that is how our puppies came to be. 

Well I guess she is quite a jumper herself, and on Thurs night when we went to Park City to visit my sister Emily, Zoey jumped over her balcony, after I assume she was trying to get a better look at the dogs barking below us, and fell about 25 ft. It was the most horrible and tragic thing I could ever imagine happening. I was utterly useless- in a panic, screaming and crying and not knowing what to do for my poor yelping, bleeding dog that could not move. 
We took her to a vet who came in on this emergency call and he did an exam and some x-rays. She had a compression fracture in her lumbar spine and could not move or stand on her hind legs, but still had reflexes. She had some bleeding in the lungs and dental trauma. Next we took her to the animal ER in Salt Lake where they admitted her, gave her pain medicine and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. We had to wait for a lot of things this weekend- an MRI the next day, results the day after, and finally for the surgeon to come back from vacation last night.

In the meantime we have shed so many tears and discussed the fate of our young pup and what would be best for her. If you've never owned a dog and become bonded to these loving creatures you wouldn't understand our dilemma, as I wouldn't have before I became a dog owner not too long ago myself. We couldn't bear to see her in pain, and we couldn't bear to think of our lives without her. But we also don't want her to have a poor quality of life. After speaking with family, friends, many vets and hospital workers and finally the surgeon last night, we felt that going ahead with the surgery was the best thing to do for all of us. We realize that it is VERY expensive and will be a long road to recovery (if she even fully recovers), but we have hopes that since she is young and healthy and her spinal cord is still intact that she still has a good chance of getting better. 

Sorry for this long post, and I know that if you read my facebook you already kind of know what is going on- but there's the full story. We love our little Zoey so much, and hope and pray for a speedy recovery. Please send your positive thoughts and hopes her way.