The Chris Johnson Band

Just 3 months after the passing of Sam, our beloved dog Duke has passed to the Rainbow Bridge to chase rabbits with his best buddy.

Duke was a sable Rough Collie who, at one point, topped the 110 lb. mark.  He was the most gentle animal I’ve ever known, and always happy!  Duke suffered from a couple of things over the years, including testicular cancer and a diagnosis of Cushing’s disease.  Though the Cushings never manifest, it may have been at the root of Duke’s last battle.  For the last half of the year, Duke had been coughing and regurgitating flem (not vomit).  The vets could not diagnose the problem, and chalked it up to food allergies.  The emergency vet diagnosed mega-esophagus along with aspiration pneumonia in the beginning of November of 2009.  It was a back and forth battle, as the mega esophagus caused him to aspirate food and saliva into his lungs, causing the pneumonia.  We were able to manage the pneumonia to some degree, but he would not eat and had to be placed on IV fluids and hospitalized.  Sadly, they were unable to reduce the fever or isolate the mega-esophagus cause.  During this he developed sepsis.  In a brutally agonizing moment we had to put him down on Sunday, November 15th at 12 and a half years old.

Dukey was a great brother to Sam, and an inspiration to me.  He will be deeply missed.  I hope to see them both again some day.

You’re a good boy, Peanut.

My great friend Sam crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this fall at just over 12 years old.  He is deeply missed.

Sam was a rescue from the Humane Society.  I found him when he was just 13 weeks.   At about 1 year, Sam was diagnosed with canine idiopathic epilepsy.  Untreated, he could suffer as many as 20 grand mall seizures a day.  After some time, his disease was regulated by medications and diet.  We got down to 1 seizure per month or so.  Sam went on for many years living the dream.  He was a stellar Frisbee dog and was loved by all at the dog park and family gatherings.  The vet who originally diagnosed Sam’s epilepsy gave him 6 or 7 years to live, figuring the medications would slowly take their toll on the liver and kidney.  At about 7 years old Sam developed canine diabetes.  Talk about getting dealt a raw hand!  This too was regulated, as Sam learned to live with 2 shots of insulin per day and more diet restrictions.  An effect of the diabetes, his eye site was lost to cataract around 10 years old. None of this stopped Sam.  He loved, laughed and howled.  He never missed an opportunity to steal a pillow or kick you off of ‘his’ couch.  Sam was the toughest living thing I’ve ever known.  I learned so much about taking on life’s challenges from this dog.  Sam will be forever loved and remembered.

You’re a good boy, squishy.