Saturday, February 21, 2009

Today we said goodbye to our dear soul, Patches. So tonight take a moment to look into the night sky. There is a new light shining brightly.

At 5 weeks she came into our lives a wreck of a thing, dirty and cold. We took her home and for 14 years she's been our matriarch, a loving companion. She raised our two flat coats, Valley and Dancer and was always watchful of them, staying out of trouble.

She was a golden and a lab (aka goldadore), a misfit from a puppy mill but not to anyone who knew her. She was golden to the heart. Sweet, gentle and loving. She was our first hunting dog who absorbed all of our mistakes and taught us what we should and should not do. Through our mistakes she never did manage to be a hunting companion but that didn't matter to us, we loved her dearly.

Being a mix, I believe it gave her a little of the hy-bred vigor, but at 14 she still couldn't outrun the tyrant histiocytic sarcoma. She was diagnosed in September. We lost Valley to MH in October and now she is joined by Patches.

God speed good girl. May your golden light shine down on us all.

Penny Woodward Patches - Goldadore CGC
1995 - 2009