Life on Oak St.: Raven

This last Saturday was a sad day for us. We had to say goodbye to our dog Raven. Raven was 90lb Black Lab. She was the sweetest, most gentle, loyal and loving big black dog. Most people would mistake her as a male because of her size.

We adopted Raven the summer of 2008. She was first adopted by Russ's parents when she was 5 years old and then once we moved to a place where we could have a dog we took her. She's been with us through three homes and two babies. She was a great dog. In my opinion she was the best dog anyone could ask for. She was happy to be outside or even in the garage. She loved everyone she met. I never worried about her around the kids, she was always gentle with them. She LOVED food, she would eat her dinner in just about 15 seconds flat (she nearly inhaled it) I'm pretty sure meal times were her favorite time of the day and any chance she got she would look for crumbs on the floor to eat. Most of the time she snored while she slept. She wasn't the greatest on a leash, but she was always so good about staying right by us or by the house if we were out front.

I'm going to miss looking out the window seeing her follow Russ around while he works in the yard. And the sound of her collar when she would shake and Lily saying "Ray-Ray". (Blake called her Re-Re before he could say Raven)

I never realized how hard it would be to say good-bye to her. Over the last 9 or so months, a tumor started growing on her back hip and it was growing rather quickly. In May, we had it looked at and the vet said it was most likely cancerous. The tumor could be removed, but that wasn't to guaranty that the cancer hadn't spread. With her age (she was 11) we couldn't see spending that kind of money, not knowing if it would save her life. So, we knew this day was coming. But in the time leading up to it, I never once thought it would be so hard. We will miss her so much!