I really appreciate everyone’s kind words. We could not find a vet to take Rosie last night, however, my husband found a vet that would take her early this morning. I could not bear to go with him to the vet, but he stayed with Rosie until everything was over.

Now that I am more calm I can relay what happened yesterday that made it so we had to put her to sleep.

She was an old dog, 14 years old. She had been a great family dog. As big as she was she had always been good with the kids. When Anna was an infant and crawling, Rosie would stand over her and herd her through the house. She would let Anna crawl all over her and when she got tired of it she would just wander off to another place in the house. She did not bark much and was friendly with most people. The only time she seemed to get upset about people coming to the house, was if a strange man came to the house when my husband was not home. When she was younger she loved to play soccer with the kids. She loved tennis balls and would play fetch with them for hours. However, she enjoyed fetch so much that she would bring sticks, rocks, or almost anything to you for you to play fetch with her.

As she got older she developed the normal things that older dogs do. She was mostly blind and deaf. She also had pretty bad arthritis. My husband, Farrol, and I had begun having discussions on how much pain she was probably in and how we did not want her to suffer anymore. However, we never really decided on doing anything for sure.

Yesterday, our neighbor came down in his truck to pick Farrol and Anna up and take them to pick up Farrol’s new truck. Rosie has known our neighbor since he was a kid and she was a puppy. They liked it each other. It seems when our neighbor was backing up to leave, Rosie was behind his truck. Something she never has done before. We think she did not hear when he started his truck up and she was in his blind spot. When he backed up, one of his tires rolled over her back, pelvis, and her back legs. It was a horrible, horrible accident. The fact that Anna was there when it happened and for something like to happen in my own front yard, just made it worse. I have to admit that I was angry and sad last night.

I feel so bad for our neighbor, he is a young man that really cares about animals and he is very upset. My daughter has known Rosie her whole life and she is terribly upset as well. My son was the one who named her, and I have been trying to get a hold of him and let him know but I have not been able to reach him. He was six when we got her. My husband, who was never a dog person until I married him, is very upset as well.

I have spent the day mostly just goofing off. Deep breathing and using my new relaxation techniques to deal manage my stress,  anger and sadness. I am feeling much better now. Has horrible as things played out, she was in pain before the accident happened, so at least now she is feeling absolutely no pain anymore.

Thanks for listening, Neighbors.