Sad news. My dog was put to sleep yesterday. Or at least... I'm assuming he was. Yesterday my parents were going to take him to the vet and see what they recommended, but he was in really bad shape. It was hard to look at him, he looked so miserable and mishapen. I didn't want him to be in all that pain. But at the same time, I didn't want him to leave us.

I haven't called my mom to see if he was put to sleep or not... so writing this entry feels a little strange, because he might still be with us. I really doubt it though, the poor dog was on his last leg. But I will talk about him in present tense instead of past.

Baron is a very loyal, lovable companion. He has been with us for 10 years. He's very large for a german shepherd - around 140 lbs. Unfortunately big dogs don't live as long as smaller dogs do...

These lumps started swelling in his throat - which the vet said they could only get rid of through surgery, but they would keep coming back, so the only way to get rid of them was to remove them through surgery. We didn't want to put Baron through that. They gave him some pills to take to stop the swelling, but they just kept getting worse, and started obstructing his breathing and he couldn't hold any food down.

I was 10 when my stepdad and sister brought him home. It was Valentine's Day. They carried him in wearing a big, bright red bow around his neck - he was the most adorable thing ever, I will always remember that day. A soft and pudgy brown buddle of joy, with floppy ears too big for his head. Baron was born on January 1st, so every time we'd count down the new year, we'd wish Baron a happy birthday.

He is the best dog a family could ever have. I will miss him. It will be strange knowing that he is no longer with us. Whenever I look at that picture of him I grow very sad.

Baron is the 3rd pet that I will loose. Mac was our first dog, a happy yellow lab, that was taken from us when he was only 6 years old. He suffered from epileptic seizures, a defect in his breeding, and would usually have a seizure once every month. But one day he had around 10 in a row, and we had to put him down to stop his suffering.

That was hard day, I'll always remember that one too. We all cried. First time I've ever seen my parents cry. My sister didn't get to say goodbye to Mac, she was with her friends. When she came home, she screamed so loud that it scared me. I got to say goodbye to Mac... but he didn't reccognize me because of the trauma he had gone through with the seizures.

Those seizures were a nasty, horrible thing to watch. They would come out of nowhere... and just... take control of every part of Mac's body, every muscle tensing up... and you could see that he was trying to fight it. When he woke up, it would take him a while before he remembered where he was and who his family was.

Baron was about 2 years when Mac was put down. I always felt a little guilty when we brought Baron into the family. I felt that maybe Mac wasn't getting all the attention that he deserved, especially when Baron was a puppy. And they were the most opposite type of dogs anyone could have. Mac was very friendly, would jump up and wag his tail at a burgler coming through the door. Baron was much more cautious and would bark and growl at people coming to our house, until he had a chance to sniff them a bit and make sure they were no threat. Also, you couldn't take Mac anywhere without a leash, but Baron never needed one, he would always stay close and if he got too far ahead, he'd always come right back.

Baron once sent my husband to the hospital. He never really hurt anyone, except for this time, but it was just a nip on the leg. He thought he was protecting me. Luke still has the scar though, Baron got him good.

Not too long after we lost Mac, we lost our cat, Spike. Spike was our very first pet ever. He was pure white, and was quite the cool cat. His kidneys failed... so we had to put him down. He was very old.

No one shed tears that day though. I don't know why. I was very sad, everyone was sad. As soon as I came home from school, I looked around the house for Spike... but he wasn't there. So I knew. When my mom came home from work and told me, I just nodded and continued watching Saved by the Bell on TV.

I guess it was like that for Baron. I didn't cry... but I was still sad. Everyone is.

Well, I've gone on about this for longer that I wanted. Sad pet tales.

All dogs and cats go to heaven, I know it.