07/19/2023
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I have put off saying anything but I just can't anymore. This is Valley the day before she was returned to us after living in her forever home for four years. She was 5.5 years old. Last Sunday when her owner dropped her off I asked him to please consider taking her back home and crating her more. Her only issue was that she was so excited when coming inside that she would jump over the back of the couch and had nearly landed on and knocked over their 6 month old baby. She had never growled, nipped, or shown any sort of aggression toward the baby. They had just taken her to their vet for all of her yearly vaccinations and health check on June 26th of '23. I have looked through those records and there is no mention of any health concerns. Sunday she was anxious, understandably, and wanted to carry her fish toy in her mouth everywhere, including outside when I walked her. Monday she was very subdued, she wasn't interested in her food, not unusual for a dog coming into the rescue. I decided Tuesday to clean out Suzie's kennel in my house and move her where I was more often to help her with this transition. My plan was to move her on Tuesday night after I got home from work. Tuesday I took her out before work, she drank some water and walked with me. She was still depressed. When I came home from work I went over to get her to bring her to my house. When I walked in all the other dogs were their normal selves. She was just lying in her her kennel with her fish under her paw but she did not raise her head. I opened her kennel and touched her and she was dead. Omg I couldn't even understand at first. I'm of course blaming myself for not moving her to my house sooner. What did I miss? I went over her vet records again and there is nothing there to indicate an underlying health issue. Why then did she die? In 13 years of rescue I've never had this happen. But this is a dog that seemed to be full of life. She loved her family and for whatever reason they chose to not keep her or even try to work with her. Did she die of a broken heart? I don't know but I'm sure that the stress of it all surely contributed to her death. So tonight I'm sharing this, Valley's story, so maybe another family thinking of rehoming their family dog, will think again and try to make it work. She is now buried here on my farm. Such a tragedy, such a loss. RIP Valley, you are loved and missed.