Duke the Dog

Here's a picture of Duke from just a few days ago.

We recently found out that our dear dog Duke has cancer and probably won't be with us for much more than a couple of months. Duke is 12 1/2 years old and has been such a loyal buddy to Kenny for all of his years and to me for the last 3 1/2 years. We are both so thankful for our time with him thus far, and so thankful that we know that he is sick and we can make the most of our last few months with him. Needless to say, Duke is getting tons and tons of love and attention and is truly enjoying all of the people food we can give him!

As we have been going through this with Duke, it's made me think about how wonderful dogs are. This will be the first time in my life, since the age of 12 that I don't have a dog. They are such loyal companions and loving, sweet animals. Duke actually is a funny dog too. Many of you with pets know that when you live with them, you talk to them - even though you know they can't answer you. But Duke kind of does answer...he's great at groaning in response to a question or shaking his head no at just the appropriate time or even just looking at us and we can just read his thoughts in his eyes. But most of all, he loves his Mommy and Daddy so much and watches our every move and would do anything he could for us, as we would do for him.

When Kenny and I moved in together, he asked me about moving Duke in with us too. Duke was the Friedrich family pet and of course I accepted him, I love dogs too! But I was kind of wondering what it would be like to have a larger dog than I was used to and a yellow lab that seemed to have endless amounts of energy. Duke is about 80 lbs and my Brittany Spaniels (Katie and Suzie) that I had growing up were about 35 - 40 lbs. But Duke quickly stole my heart and we got used to living with each other. I began spoiling him and he quickly became my friend - although Kenny will always be his #1 person in the world. In the end, Duke has made me a true lab lover and has taught me how to love a bigger dog, even if he is almost as tall as me!!

We love you Duke...we are so thankful for you!!!