Good bye Luna. "She honestly helped raise and protect our kids, that is worth the world to me"

This past week we had to say good bye to our beloved dog Luna. Luna was an excellent dog that protected our house at all costs. However she really never had to use her strength. Luna was a 150ish pound, over 4 foot tall (head to front foot) Blue Fawn, Great Dane that Nicole and I picked up when she was only 6 weeks old from a farm in Youngstown, Ohio. We decided to get her a week after we had to give up our last dog back to the adoption agency because she was injured. Luna was only 5 years old but she lived a full life.

While on campus we used to take Luna to all of the OSU tailgates and she absolutely loved it. While still at a young age Luna developed wobbler's which is a very bad syndrome that some dogs develop. She had major spinal surgery which gave her use of her back legs again but she never fully recovered. Luna suffered from very bad arthritis in he back legs for the rest of her life. While standing and sitting she most always cried out in pain.

After the kids were born Luna became very protective of them. If anything bad was happening to the girls she was the first one to notice and act on it. She would even give me the evil eye sometimes. She would mostly move where the girls were, I think just to make sure they are watched. Before bed time she would always walk around the house, specifically in the girls rooms prior to calling it a night.

Most people fear big dogs around kids but I am not sure if we could have had a better dog to care for our kids. If a limb of a child happened to be near she mouth she would always turn away, she was never sensitive of feeding time, when sitting she allowed out kids as babies to crawl all over her. She was a very caring, loving, and motherly dog.

Her health was starting to deteriorate she was crying out more and more. She was standing inwardly bow legged to stand up straight, she had almost complete incontinence, she was at the vet every other week with something different, and most recently she had some blood come out of her urine.

On January 26th, 2010 Luna while trying to move to the room where the girls were eating. Luna slipped and fell with her legs spread out. She could not get back up from this fall. This is where Nicole and I made the call. Gahanna Animal Hospital was very willing to fit us in at such a late hour and was great for the entire process. She feel asleep with Nicole hugging her neck and me holding up her head, until the weight became too much. I laid her head down and she was gone.

I want to thank everyone who ever met Luna and took the time to give her a hug. I know she was a loved dog. Every hug helped her to push on through her pain so she could spread her love and caring and stay just that much longer with us. She honestly helped raise and protect our kids, that is worth the world to me.

If you have a memory or thought about Luna please post in the comments section.

(Pictured: Isabella hugging Luna before we picked her up from where she fell, Luna's last picture.)

-- Sent from my Palm Prē