This has been a long -- and at times very painful -- week. On Thursday, Sundance's dad, Sonny (Ch Ivoss Touch The Sun) was euthanized due to osteocarcoma of the spinal column.

Sonny, who was 4 years old, had been showing in Best Of Breed competition this year when he started developing some nagging injuries to his foot, leg and shoulder in June. At the time he came out of the ring, he was ranked #3 in the country. About a month ago, Sonny started having some weakness and pain in his back. Two weeks ago, his owner, Diane Voss, found him in excruciating pain unable to move. She is a veterinarian and she immediately took him in for MRI. After 2 operations, which left him paralyzed from the shoulders back, the diagnosis was an aggressive form of cancer and the prognosis was fast deterioration and a lot of pain. So, on Thursday, Diane did the humane thing and said goodbye to her dearest boy.

Here's an ad we did for Sonny with a headshot taken here in the studio about a year ago.



Interestingly, Sonny is still ranked #8 in All Breed points Nationally which gives you an idea of how much winning he did between January and June.

After Diane put Sonny down, she was very depressed so we convinced her to drive up from West Palm Beach to our home in Orlando to attend the Orlando dog shows just to get her mind off of the events of the past few weeks. After dinner last night, we all sat outside and watched the full moon and after a few minutes, Sundance went over to Diane and put his paws on her shoulders, his head on her cheek and simply held her. He stayed with her like that for almost 2 hours while Diane hugged him, kissed him and cried a bit. Sundance looks a lot like his daddy. How he knew what Diane needed is completely beyond my comprehension, but he did.

On that note, I want to share a few other of our Sundance images from the 2009 calendar. A celebration of life rather than a memorial to a death.

Here's February.



March.



And April.



Enjoy.

Jim

Best wishes from us here in Utah.

Hey Jim,

I wish that I had anything to say that would contradict this statement. I also wish that I had anything that could possibly be helpful too. You are right though. It is absolutely not fair. The whole thing makes no sense...and does not get clearer to me with the passing of days. I am sorry for your losses, Jim.

James

Jim, your statement is right on. This has been a very tough week for us too. I have slept (sort of ) on the floor next to Polar for a week. Just now seeing improvement.

What I do not understand (or maybe I really do now) is that in the past when people would say to me that they just cannot take the pain so they choose not to get another pet. Well, life just is not the same when they are not in our lives. But for the first time in my life I have had those thoughts.

I know that in the past some people have said this is a photo group and not the place for discussing other issues, but personally I feel this is the place to exchange issues of the heart. I am sorry for your loss and for the pain among you friends.

I really am enjoying your calendar.

PeggySue,
I hope Polar is doing better. The first week is the worst and then it's a matter of holding them back so they don't injure themselves further until the knee is strong enough. What type of surgery was it? TPLO?

I'm glad the calendar is helping you to smile a bit. Sundance does the same for us each day. I can't imagine not sharing our lives with such wonderful companions.

Feel better,

Jim

I'm very sorry for your loss. I like to think of Photography as creating treasures and capturing memories. Your poster of Sonny does exactly that, nice work.

Love the calendar shots.

Oh man, that really sucks. I'm sorry to hear.

Thankfully, there are other therapeutically wagging tails (or nubs ) in the world to help us along, but is sure isn't easy.

Jim,
before we breed one of our girls, I personally "interview" the prospective husbands and they have to pass my interrogation.

Sonny was a lovely boy both physically and emotionally. His owner is single and therefore Sonny hadn't had much close contact with men. When I met him, we spent about an hour just getting him comfortable with a guy. After that, he was one of "my guys". I loved him; he loved me. He created with Cassidy one of the nicest litters of puppies I've ever been associated with. And if we had not done that breeding, we would not have Sundance in our lives now and our lives would be so much emptier.

But, we do have Sundance. And we do have many decent photos of Sonny with which to do a great memorial in our magazine. Lots of people want to contribute to that memorial which indicates how many people Sonny touched in his all too brief stop in this life.

Yes, it sucks. But it reminds us of how fortunate we are to have Rowdy with us at 11. And to have known and loved a very nice, exceptionally beautiful Rottie boy. Even in this loss, we are truly blessed.

Jim

Not nice making me tear up at 10PM!

You're right though.

It's hard to watch Igloo, our 16-yo American Eskimo, start to slow down, but we've had a great time together. Here's to hoping he'll be around for a long time yet.

I am so very sorry for the loss of Sonny, Jim. When you said that Sundance comforted Diane it touched my heart. Dogs seem to have a way of knowing when they are needed. I would agree with Peggy when she says that life is not the same without them, but sometimes the pain and heartache is so bad that it takes a lot of time to decide to make that lifetime committment again. Dogs are living a lot longer which just makes the pain harder to bear when you have to say goodbye.

Having this forum to share these difficult issues helps all of us cope a little better. Peggy, Hope that Polar heals soon. Continued good health to Igloo and Rowdy.

Diane