This is Liam II, our third puppy to raise for CCI. He is out of Roschu and by Keyan, half golden retriever and half labrador retriever. He was born December 20, 2002. We picked him up from CCI on the same weekend that Ruston matriculated. We had one day without a CCI pup and that was spent at Disneyland!
Henry doing his infamous 'testing' of Liam. He said that Liam was 'trainable'!
Chris holding Liam for the first time. As it turns out, he does love to cuddle.
We raised and trained Liam, teaching him everything we could expose him to, just like we did with Comet and Ruston. Liam was great! Here are photos of us training at the local grocery and dining out.
Just training!
Posing in the flowers in the front yard or sleeping with the cat or playing with Henry, Liam enjoyed down time as well.
Then came time to take Liam back to CCI. We began visiting everyone who had supported us in our training. We gave each a certificate of appreciation and took photos. A few of the places are posted below - Hood County Animal Clinic, Don Ayalas' restaurant, Attitudes & Doris - my hairstylist, Kroger & Arrow Feed.
Appreciation
The trip to CCI was not pleasant for Liam. He did not like the plane at all. But once on land, he was fine and his usual perfect self.
At CCI - then home again
Liam remained at CCI the entire 6 months. One week before team training we got 'the call' from CCI telling us Liam was being released for fear and anxiety issues. That same day my husband got a call with a better job offer. Unfortunately that position would not allow him to take the CCI pups to work for their training. Since Liam was being released and we could no longer give what we felt to be adequate training and exposure to what the dogs needed, we decided to adopt Liam. We flew to California the following weekend and rented a car and drove Liam back home to Texas. He didn't believe he was going home until he was here. He was so joyous! All is well now and the way it should be. Liam is back home and we are all happy now.
LIAM II
DECEMBER 20, 2002 - JUNE 21,2017
Wednesday the 21st of June, 2017 will be the first day of summer - the longest day of the year. Indeed it will be just that for us. It is with a very heavy heart that we have had to finally make the decision to let our dear, sweet Liam go. He has been struggling with many disorders including Cushing’s disease, acid reflux, loss of hearing, failing sight and osteoarthritis in both front legs and rear legs. He is maxed out on pain killers, narcotics, antacids and drugs that help his Cushing’s which for him causes him to loose balance and stagger or fall. He really has been doing well since he began pain pills in 2015 but has begun failing quickly this month. We cannot control the pain anymore. This weekend he could not get up without help or continue standing due to one rear leg that either hurts him too much when he sleeps on it or it now goes numb and he has no feeling in it. I cannot figure out which. It took 6 hours both Saturday and Sunday mornings working on his leg to get it operating enough for him to stand. This morning, he woke on his good side and had a ‘good’ day only struggling to walk with his increased overall pain. But we had already decided that we must relieve him of this difficult life. He is now having more bad days than good and it would be better for him to join all the rest of the family at the Bridge. It is time. So this morning I called the vet and made arrangements for him to come on Wednesday just after noon to help Liam over the Bridge. He will be 14 years and one day short of 6 months old when he leaves, the oldest dog we ever had. Liam will return to us, as all of our other animals have done, cremated and we will plant something in his name and with some of his ashes in the fall, when the plant can survive.
This is always a very painful decision, but we know it is the right one. He deserves to have peace when he dies. If anyone who knew him or would like to meet him wants to come visit with him before noon on Wednesday, please do come visit. Tuesday is also OK. I will be here all day both days. If you cannot visit, please send us calming and peaceful thoughts.
This is going to be a life-changer for me. I have never - NEVER - been without a dog in my 63 years! We have just volunteered to be puppy-sitters for Canine Companions for Independence, the service dog organization that Liam came from. This will help us feel ‘connected’ when we have a pup here. But during those many times that we won’t have a pup – it will be awfully lonely and quiet.
On his last walk around the front wildflowers, he noticed the black ribbon on the mailbox.
June 21, 2017 Liam is gone. Thank you to our wonderful caring vet for coming to help release him from his pain. We will see you soon at the Bridge, dear Liam II.
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