# Keeper's story (non gsd)



## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Yesterday would have been Keeper's 12th birthday, I miss her so much and I am so sad that she never got the chance to grow old. I spent most of the day yesterday making this video in her memory.






 
Keeper passed away on September 8th 2012 in a tragic accident. The months leading up to her death were so filled with triumphs and tragedies that it made losing her all the more painful. In May this year Keeper went blind, her vision was slowly deteriorating but then over a weekend she lost all the vision in one eye and then quickly began losing the vision in the other. We saw a veterinary specialist that told us with a $4000 surgery she could have her vision back. That is a lot of money for my husband and me, but we knew that without her vision Keeper would not have a good quality of life. She was not by any means an old dog; she had more energy and vitality than most puppies. The day after our specialist appointment Keeper was hit by a speeding freight train. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, she became confused when I called her (since she couldn’t see) and tried to cross under the freight train. You can only imagine the extreme panic as I was about to watch my dog get hit by a train. It struck her in the face; she fell down, got back up and ran alongside the train away from me. I had to let her go in fear of her trying to get under the train again and I had to make sure my two other dogs were safe as well. She had been hit in the face and sustained only minor injury! LUCKY DOG. 
It was then decided that she needed this surgery to restore her vision or she would likely get herself killed. There were many other instances where if she couldn’t see and was confused, she would leap. On June 14th 2012 Keeper had cataract surgery. It was incredibly successful and within a week she was chasing her ball again. I have never seen a dog so happy! She could SEE again, she was like a whole new dog. 
Shortly after her surgery she hurt her back running too hard, it was very scary as her hind legs went limp mid run. The vet said it was just a bad spasm and she would heal just fine. We did physio and get her back into shape and she was doing great, enjoying life to the fullest. Shortly after that she got spear grass deeply embedded in her hind leg, it was cleared up with antibiotics and then a week later it came back. She had to have surgery to have it removed. Once she was fully recovered from that she was back to her normal self, enjoying her new eyes. I remember thinking the day before she died how relieved I was that she was finally out of the woods and could get back to enjoying life again.
My husband and I had a wedding to go to out of town and we left two of our dogs (Keeper and Odin) with my Dad for the weekend. We got a call on Saturday afternoon just before the wedding that Keeper had an accident. She was running with Odin, they sideswiped each other; she tumbled and didn’t get back up. The emergency vet figured she had likely broken her neck. She was paralyzed from the neck down and the prognosis wasn’t good. My husband and I drove back into town and made the heart wrenching decision to euthanize her. After all we had been through; she died scared, in pain and spent most of that horrific day without me by her side. 
I cannot begin to describe how incredibly angry, sad and broken I am over this. I am so mad that I wasn’t there for her, I didn’t get to spend her last night on this earth with her and she didn’t even get 3 months with her new eyes.
Keeper was an incredibly cool dog; she was very spunky, always happy, and full of attitude, had an intuitive intelligence and was the sweetest dog you would ever meet. I competed in agility and flyball with her and she was my climbing buddy. Keeper and I summited more than 20 mountains together. She was the ultimate dog.
She will live on forever through Odin, she taught him how to be a dog. She showed him the joys of life and how to accomplish anything he wanted. He will never be the same without her, I can’t believe how much this has affected him, but I also know that he would not be the dog he is without her guidance.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I'm so very sorry for your loss...I can imagine you are devastated


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## Loneforce (Feb 12, 2012)

Sorry for your loss  Keeper was beautiful. That was a very nice tribute to her. Rest In Peace "Keeper"


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Wow, what a beautiful tribute in video and in words. We love all of our dogs but some of them touch our hearts in a special way that others can't. Your precious and beautiful girl Keeper was one of those, it is very obvious to me. I am so sorry that she did not get to make more beautiful memories with you and that she had to go to the bridge so soon. 

Run free Keeper, run free precious girl and be sure to watch for your momma at the bridge someday, I know that you will. :rip:


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Thank you....keeper was a very special dog. I love my GSDs but I really miss having a spunky, happy go lucky dog around. She had a very unique combination of sweetness and bad girl attitude


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## Capone22 (Sep 16, 2012)

I am so sorry for your loss. She was beautiful!


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Keeper had an awesome life with you, your husband and her furry siblings. I'm sorry you lost her and understand the hurt. That was a wonderful tribute to Your girl. RIP Keeper


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Nigel said:


> Keeper had an awesome life with you, your husband and her furry siblings.


Thanks Nigel...I keep telling myself that I should just be happy that she had a good life, filled with adventure. But I just can't seem to get passed this, it was not her time...I am so filled with regret and keep thinking back to that day and all the "what if I had just done this differently, she would still be alive" scenarios. I can't seem to get it together. I am so mad and heart broken.

I am so sad for Odin, it took him a month before he started to kind of act like himslef again. And then something triggers his depression and he is back to being sad and feeling insecure. Last Wednesday I took the dogs to my Dad's (they haven't been there since Keeper died) Odin hid under the table the whole time and has been depressed since. He also picks fights with Havoc when he is depressed which just adds to the overall stress level in the house We had two fights this week since taking them to my Dad's house.


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