Our Montana

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Goodbye

Little Things

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Our Montana

November 2, 1996 - May 4, 2008

A neighbor in Granger asked me to come over and help mock judge a dog she was showing for a breeder, he was an almost one year old male yellow lab.   He was the most mellow lab I had ever seen, I said, "I would have two dogs if I could find one as mellow as this guy."  

When finished we sat down for a cup of tea, and the breeder called and my neighbor had told her what I had said about Montana.  The breeder asked Betsy if we wanted to be co-owners with them for $100.00, which meant he would live with us and they would show him for a year to see how he does in the ring.  If he did well, they would continue showing him and would stud him out once a year, and we would get first choice of the litter or part of the stud fee.  If he didn't do well, after a year we could have him neutered and he would be all ours free and clear.  

Brian didn't want another dog, I really didn't want another dog, we had our  Lieber.  But after seeing this big yellow beautiful Labrador, with this huge head, big brown eyes,  golden yellow coat, who was so incredibly gentle, we had to have him. A mellow lab is extremely hard to find.  His name Montana, was given to him by the breeder because he was the largest puppy in the litter and the litter pups were named after states.

We got him in October '97.   The breeders were really nice people, and they told us they didn't think he would show well, he was a bit  big for  Labrador standards and he didn't have a show personality.....too lazy.   Which was fine for us because, we really wanted him fixed and didn't want to stud him out.  It ended up they never showed him, and in one years time his papers were signed over to us and he was all ours.

Montana spent his first year in a basement kennel, sleeping on concrete floors.  His next bed was queen size shared with Brian, Lieber and I.  Which in a few months became a King size bed because we were getting tired of sleeping with our knees up our noses. He never spent another night on a cement floor or in a kennel and like Lieber, he knew pillows were for your head not for chewing.

He  followed Lieber everywhere. Lieber was top dog, and Montana was happy to be low man on the totem pole... he was just happy... all the time. If he was human, he would of been a kind old man, who never said a mean thing about anyone, and was always there when you called.  

Lieber was this beautiful well behaved fun dog.  Montana was that and something more, he was that once in a lifetime dog. Kids in the neighborhood would ring the bell and ask him out to play, he always parked himself next to any old person that came over because he knew they always dropped food for him, only barked when Lieber or Lego barked first. From day one, he stayed by the house and never left the yard, he always wanted to be where his family was. He loved to go visit neighbors with me. 

His tail wagged constantly when he ate.  My dogs aren't allowed to beg, but somehow Montana knew when the forks stopped hitting the plates at dinner and would come over to the table and wait for us to get up.  The other two exceptions were Pop Tarts and popcorn,  he would wait by the microwave as soon as he heard it starting to pop, and waited for discarded corners of Pop Tarts.

 Collin was two when we first got him, and where Lieber grew up side by side with Ian, Montana grew up with Collin.  Montana was Collin's playmate when Ian went off to school.

Lieber was Brian's dog.......she loved us all, but Brian was her first choice. Lego is equally beholden to all of us.  Montana was mine, wherever I went in the house I had to be in his view.  I called him my "puppy boy", no matter how deep a sleep he was in, or what he was doing, one of us could say "puppy boy" and his thick  tail would start wagging and you could hear it thumping against the floor.  I had some minor surgery four days before he passed. I was in bed all day recovering....sleeping basically, he never left my side, he knew I wasn't feeling well and wouldn't leave me. 

 We really didn't think anything would be harder than losing Lieber...
then we lost our puppy boy.  

He died suddenly and even at 12 much too young for us. I was just out in the field with him a couple of days before he died thinking...he made it to 12, he's got a bit of arthritis, old fart moles everywhere but he's still  bouncy and happy, and he is going to be one of those big old  dogs. 

Our house without him is empty, .I said to Brian after he died, "I remember when we got him, I didn't think his death would be as hard, because we didn't raise him from a puppy...and here it has been the hardest death of all."  We are so lost without him, because we know no matter what dog we have now or will have... it will never have his beautiful temperament, his loyalty, his ability to make us laugh, or that gaze that just melts your heart.  He cannot be replaced only aspired to.

Goodbye

One Sunday out of the blue....
he woke up, he was fine, ate, went for a car ride to the gas station with Brian for the Sunday paper like every week. I came down a hour and a half later, he didn't come back up to bed with me like he usually did, when I came down he was laying in front of the couch and his tail didn't wag. I knew immediately something was wrong. We thought maybe he sprained his back. legs or something, because he was just laying around, but no fever so we didn't think he was sick. 

Brian and I ran out to do some shopping, and Ian and Collin sat with him in the family room while we were gone because we didn't want him on the stairs if he was sore, we were just going to keep him pretty still and take him to the vet on Monday. When we got home, I gave him a bit of an oatmeal cookie, and he wouldn't eat it, something was really wrong, he always ate no matter what.  Still no fever and he seemed to get worse the couple hours we were gone., he was just very lethargic, his breathing was becoming labored, so I goggled, and everything said congestive heart failure and to get him to the vet now. I immediately start crying, Brian called the vet.  I was laying with him on the floor... I just knew he wasn't coming back. His tail wasn't wagging, his breathing was  odd, his nose was really really cold. I said my goodbye when Brian was out getting Collin from outside, we just wanted to make sure everyone saw him, just in case. I told him what a wonderful dog he was and how much I loved him. Collin came in and quick petted his head, every minute he was here he was getting worse.  They all thought he was coming home again. 

Brian had to carry him into the van, Montana didn't have to strength to walk anymore, Ian went with to help him at the vet. I always thought one gets stronger as they age, but I seem to get weaker.......I couldn't go. I get so unconsolable, I would make Montana feel worse.  Ian sat with him the entire ride, and could see him declining in the van, and he knew, and just held him the entire way.

Brian called, he could barely talk and said we needed to put him down, but he wanted me to be part of the decision. Brian and Ian were with him, before and after. The vet said he had a mass on his spleen and it ruptured sometime after he ate in the morning, he was bleeding internally and in shock, that's why his nose and paws were so cold, he was beginning to go into a coma. His blood work came out  all normal because it happened that fast.  We had never even heard of this happening before, it was just so fast.

He died quickly and painlessly surrounded by people he loved, that loved him even more. We are just lost without him. It's hard even watching Lego who was by his side every day of her life, you can tell how much she misses him too. 

We love & miss you Montana! 

Gallery

Little Things

The things that made Montana......Montana. We like to write them down so we never forget. 

Watching him in the yard gently smelling everything. -Ian
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In the morning I he would yawn at the top of the stairs.-Collin
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He's the only dog I've ever seen smile. -Ian
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Sharing a pillow on a Sunday morning -Brian
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He would wear anything I put on his head, every Christmas morning he would have a bow on his head. -Michelle
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How we would run over from the couch to the dinner table when he heard empty plates clinking because he knew it was time for leftovers. -Ian
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Whenever he wanted attention he would roll a little on the floor.-Collin
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Twice he found baby bunnies in the yard.  Twice we found a baby bunny in his mouth.  After a scream and a yell, he would spit out the bunny.  Aside from a bit of dog slobber, the bunnies were fine. -Brian
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One stormy night in bed I felt something nudging my armpit, it was Montana's nose, to move me over so he could hop in bed, he slept with his head on my tummy till the rain stopped.-Michelle
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When he slept he would always burrow his head into something. under the couch, a pillow, or curl up really tight. -Ian
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He would always come and check to see how much I ate of my dinner, seeing if there was any for him.-Collin
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I would have to tell him not to bite at the bees buzzing by his head. -Michelle
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Whenever there was a new toy he would take it and run through the house for a minute or two. Then he would drop it and probably never play with it again.-Collin
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The way he would howl whenever you rubbed his belly. -Ian
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Eating so much snow when I shoveled that he would get a brain freeze. -Brian
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Giving him big hugs. -Ian
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The way he would moo when you rubbed his ears. -Michelle
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When we went on vacation we would leave the dogs with my parents.  When we came back, my parents would always mention how he would hog their bed. -Brian
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When eating at the dinner table his head would just appear over the table edge.-Collin
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Whenever I ate some type of sweet he would follow me, and when I sat down he would give me an unwavering stare.-Collin
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When we would play hide and seek, he would look for me in a slow and methodical way. -Brian
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He just wouldn't stay outside for long, he wanted to be inside with his family. -Michelle
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Being in the basement with him whenever it stormed. - Ian
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Whenever Mom and Dad left the house he would sit in the dining room and look out the window until they came back, no matter how long they were gone. -Ian
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When I would go back to bed in the morning after the kids left for school, him and Lego would race each other up the stairs to see who get the closest spot next to me. -Michelle
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The first day we got him we let him run around in the back yard and he was running so wildly that he ran right into me and knocked me back into the snow, I thought I had done a flip. -Ian
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Singing Happy Birthday -Brian
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The Christmas Brian's aunt came and we were opening gifts in the morning and she say's, "Did you notice the humans are on the floor and the dogs on the sofa." -Michelle
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The way his eyes followed me around to make sure I wasn't leaving the room.-Michelle
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You could always tell he was really happy when he pinned his ears back. - Ian
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When we would watch "America's Funniest Videos", and would make a loud gasp when someone crashed into something, Montana would get up and leave thinking he was in trouble.  I guess I used to gasp when they were pups and were naughty. -Michelle
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His nose turned pink in the winter and back to black in the summer.-Michelle
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Him drooling for raw potatoes whenever I was peeling them, carrots too,  he loved them.-Michelle
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If you were laying on the couch he would come by and give you dirty looks because you were in his spot. -Brian
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Standing in the wading pool up to his ankles, not an inch more. -Brian
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Even if it was hot and he started out the night on the floor, by the morning he would sleeping by my feet always. -Michelle
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In the morning he was always happy to see me-Collin
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When running outside with him he would always stop to eat some grass and smell the plants.-Collin
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Drooling for the corners of my Pop Tart. -Brian
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The only female dog he was attracted to  was our neighbors Brittany Spaniel who was very old and fragile, poor Riley.-Michelle
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If you got up from the couch for just a second he would jump up and steal your spot.-Collin
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He loved when I baked, and soon as he heard the mix master he would start waiting for the beater. -Michelle
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When hearing the pantry door open his ears would prop up ,but when he heard something pulled out he look towards it.-Collin
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His favorite toy was a stuff hedgehog that squeaked, we must of bought ten of these over the  years. -Michelle
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Walking with him and Lego in the field next door and he would just eat grass the whole time while Lego chased her ball. -Michelle

Guest Book

Please feel free to share a memory or sign  Montana's Guest Book

If you are an owner of a large breed dog and would like more information on the signs of  Splenic Masses, please familiarize yourself with the condition since it's a rather common cause of death,  especially in the German Shepard and Golden Retriever breeds. 

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_splenic_masses.html

http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/HealthConditions/SmallAnimalTopics/SplenicMassesinDogs/

*FYI
One of the signs of a mass is discomfort while sleeping.  Montana had a complete physical about four or five months before and the mass was not felt.  A dear friend of mine lost her German Shepard the same way and he had a complete physical only weeks before and it wasn't  detected. They call it the "silent killer".   While discussing this we both realized that our dogs were making a kind of groaning sound when they were sleeping months even before their physicals.  It didn't sound like they  were in pain, it sounded like they were just really tired and happy to be sleeping, they would just sort of wiggle around, groan, change positions and go back to sleep.  So please if your dog does this, have them x-rayed, if it is a mass it might be small enough they can operate and save their life.