Please send good wishes to my friend- her beloved Golden died

[Jo March]

My friend rescues Goldens. Jackson was a wonderful dog but very sick. I am so sad for her. :cry: Here is her story of Jackson:

"This is a very hard email to write. I can't stop crying long enough to read what I am writing. So please be patient with me while reading this.

As most of you know, we adopted Jackson back in May of this year. Jackson had a heart murmur and cluster grand mal seizures. He was the most handsome golden I had ever seen and so sweet.

Jackson was taking 2500 mg. of Potassium Bromide and 200 mg. of Phenobarbital a day. The Potassium Bromide was at it's limit before it would start affecting his heart. The Phenobarbital could only go up another 20 mg. before it would start affecting liver. The medication had put 22 pounds on him. He was up to 122 pounds. Which was not good for his heart.

We were never able to get Jackson's seizures under control. We were giving 60 mg. of valium (20 mg. at a time) to stop the seizures once they started.

This past Sunday, Jackson started having cluster grand mal seizures. The valium didn't stop the seizures. On Monday, we took him in to see Dr. Gleason. They gave him 40 mg. of valium. An hour after we came home he started having seizures again. We gave him another 20 mg. of valium. The seizures still continued. Tuesday, he received all his medication plus 60 mg. of valium and they still continued. By 6:50 this morning, he had already had 60 mg. of valium and four seizures. In total, Jackson had 16 seizures in 4 days. There was no way to control them. Since Sunday, Jackson never went back to being Jackson.

Jackson was crying and couldn't even get up from the medication and seizures. There was no more medication we could give him. We had to let him go spend Christmas with Jesus this year. I know my Princess and Woodie were there to greet him.

My heart is broken into pieces. The tears just won't stop coming. For those of you who never met Jackson, he was the most beautiful golden I had ever seen. He was so young and so sweet. I fell in love with him the minute I seen him. He was my baby boy. I have attached some pictures of him, but they really don't do him justice.

We did everything we could possibly do for him. Medication not included, we spent over $15,000 dollars trying to control his seizures. And the medication ran a couple hundred a month. I know we did everything possible, but it doesn't ease the pain. We had to do what was best for Jack and not what our hearts wanted. That is the most difficult thing to do.

Please say a prayer for my Jack when you have a few minutes. He was an awesome awesome Golden."

[CottonBear]

1. I'm so sorry to hear of Jackson's passing. I lost a dog friend today also

This morning, my good friend had to put down Surprise, her very old and infirm black Lab-Chow mix. I just found out about Surprise's passing a little while ago. Surprise was the official farm dog and squirrel chaser at the farm where my filly lives.
:cry:
Your friend did the right thing. No animal friend needs to suffer like that. :(
:hug:
I had a Golden Retriver once. His name was Ben and he was the most wonderful, most beautiful and sweetest dog in the world. :)

:hug: Peace. CB

[Jo March]

2. Thatnks - GRs are great dogs

That dog was so good with my kids. My friends rescues them and she is devestated.

[Kolesar]

4. My first stuffed toy was named Surprise

It was a teddy bear, I recall. But my favorite teddy bear was my golden retriever who I lost in April after two years of kidney disease. There is something about those red rascals. They give you love and you never really lose it. I still find these red-tipped hairs of hers once in a while, like when I pull a coat out of storage. I miss her so.

We were lucky to have got to dog sit a friend's black lab + spaniel mix for several months. He eased the pain. He's a California boy now, back with mom and adjusting to a new home.

Best wishes for you and your friends. I can tell you miss Surprise, too.

[Eurobabe]

3. So sorry for your friend, goldens are wonderful dogs

My best friend took a pup (just under a year old) from another friend of mine who had just had a baby and decided the dog was too much for her. I almost took him myself, but had 2 cats. Anyhow, Sam is beautiful blonde golden, but he developed all kinds of health problems (due to first friend not doing proper research and buying him from the backwaters of Virginia). Sam is 6 now, and has thyroid problems, lymes disease, terrible allergies, hip dysplasia, you name it. My friend has since split from her hubby and the cost of meds is eating her alive, but there is nothing she won't do for her angel baby.

As much as I love Goldens, I think their own popularity is slowly killing the breed. It's a damn shame.

Hope Jack is running in a fresh green field with no fences...bless him. -48%er

[IndyOp]

8. Their popularity and the ignorance of consumers who buy from

puppy mills, the owners of which don't care about breeding healthy dogs, is slowly killing the breed.

Please *begging* anyone reading this - do not buy animals from pet stores. The store will lie and say that they buy from a *local* responsible breeder - do not believe it. Do not believe that by rescuing the sad puppy from the pet store you are *at least* saving that dog -- you are making the puppy mill industry profitable and they will keep irresponsibly breeding animals.

If you want a pet Golden - there are online rescues all over the nation or find a reputable breeder who will guarantee your dog's health - these are the breeders who are careful about who they breed and how they socialize the pups.

[roguevalley]

5. this is so sad. please send them my condolences.

[Branjor]

6. My condolences to your friend....

RIP Jackson :hug:

[Jo March]

7. Thanks, guys, for your wonderful words

I'm sending this post to my friend. She is still extremely upset. She received some medicine for Jackson in the mail yesterday. It's been really hard for her.