In 2001, I met a beautiful woman.  We went out to dinner for our first date, and by the time we said good night, I knew that she wanted a yellow lab to go with her new house.  As we began dating, she found a reputable breeder and put down a deposit on a puppy.   She even made the road trip to the wilds of central Kentucky to pick out her puppy a few days after the litter was born.  She picked out a tiny, little white Lab puppy who snuggled up in her arms when picked up.

A couple months later, we packed Girlie Bear and Little Bear and drove out to get the puppy.  I was glad that I only brought enough to pay for the pup Irish Woman had already selected, because there is no better marketing than a playpen full of Labrador puppies and two kids under the age of five.  We brought Bluegrass home that day.

She was fuzzy, and friendly, and photogenic.

She was curious about the world around her.

She was good with the kids.

But, she didn’t stay a fuzzy pup for long.  She grew….

and grew….

and grew.

She ran like a thoroughbred,

and was an excellent watch dog.

For a water dog, she wasn’t very impressed with the lake, but she got into it after a while.

Eventually, she started to show her age, and enjoyed a lot of nights relaxing in front of the fire, with her big brother…

and little.

We had to let go of Blue yesterday.  She’d been struggling to get up and down for a long time, and it was becoming very plain that she was never really comfortable.  She developed a hard, hacking cough on Saturday night, and the vet told us that it was either pneumonia or tumors in her lungs.  We said our goodbyes, then I held her while the doctor ended her pain.

Bluegrass was a sweet, playful, loving, and fun part of our family.  Irish Woman commented last night on how quiet the house was without her snoring or her trips around the house to check that all the doors were closed and that all the kids were in their beds.  We will miss her.

Bluegrass – September 2001 to December 2014  – Mama’s PupPup and Piglet