The Happiest Little Family There Ever Was: Missing Landon

On December 21, 2011, our family lost our sweet baby boy Landon. Landon had just turned four when he passed.

Right before Thanksgiving we had noticed that Landon was walking with a bit of a limp and his front leg had a lump that was a bit swollen. We thought it might be a sprain from running in the yard, so I took Landon to the vet to get it checked out. After several x-rays, our vet told me I needed to call Gerry to come to the vet. When he arrived, she showed us the x-rays and explained to us that he had osteosarcoma which is bone cancer. From looking at the x-rays, she told us that the cancer looked particularly aggressive and that Landon had about 4-6 weeks left with us. The only option at that point was amputation, but that would have only been a temporary solution, and Landon would have spent his time left in recovery from a major surgery. It would also be really hard for such a big dog to have only three legs.

Gerry and I were devastated at the thought of losing Landon, but other than the limping, he was pretty much acting like himself. The doctor put him on some pain killers so he would be comfortable.

On the Sunday before Christmas, Gerry and I noticed that Landon was becoming even less active and the tumor on his leg was about twice the size it originally was. I took Landon to the vet Monday afternoon for the doctor to look at the tumor. The doctor's biggest fear with his tumor was that his bone would eventually break and fracture since it was being eaten away by the cancer. The doctor took an x-ray and told us that the bone wasn't fractured but that the tumor itself had grown that much. Gerry came to the vet near the end of the appointment and asked the doctor about us going out of town for the last week in Decemeber and she gave us another blow- She said she was pretty sure Landon wouldn't make it to Christmas. Our vet then discussed with us the fact that we would soon have to make the decision to put Landon down. We were heart broken.

The next night, we noticed the tumor growing rapidly and his foot swelling. He had stopped walking around and needed assistance walking even just to go to the bathroom. We made the decision Tuesday night that we would need to set up an appointment with the vet on Wednesday. Wednesday morning I called the vet and she actually came out to our house to do the procedure. It was absolutely terrible to have to make the decision to put your loyal friend to sleep.

Our vet was awesome and set up the cremation services and everything for Landon. She came to our house so Landon would be comfortable and he went very quickly and peacefully. The vet even sent us flowers and a sympathy card after.

Having never had a pet, losing Landon was a gut-wrenching experience. My family isn't really big on pets, so I thought a lot about how to describe it. Losing a pet is like losing your best friend. It's so sad to know he won't be there when we come home. I come in my front door and expect to hear Landon's huge tail thumping on the wall or to see Landon's head peeking out of the blinds in the window at the front of our house, but there's nothing. We had our puppies before we had CG, so they really were our children for a long time. Losing Landon has been trying for Gerry and me, but we are so thankful for the time we had with him.

I fully believe that he is in a happy place where he can run and doesn't even have to worry about his Addison's disease. I also hope that one day I will be able to see him again- but only God knows if that's in the cards.

Please enjoy some pictures of our loving Landon.