# Incredible kindness



## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Luc was my first dog, my heart dog, I loved him with every fibre of my being.

I got him at around 4 years old, pulled by a rescue in Ontario from an overcrowded no kill shelter where he'd been for around three years.

He died 3 years ago this December at 15.5 years old. He was senile, and having increasing issues with pain and illness that we were unable to address with meds. When he got a bit of a flu he just couldn't recover properly. He was becoming aggressive with Neb and Xerxes and my husband (never me). He needed help sometimes walking - we got a Help Em Up harness, as his laryngeal paralysis had progressed to a polyneuropathy and his rear end didn't work right.

When he was younger, he was the first (recorded) dog to do the 80km La Cloche Silhouette Trail (in Killarney Provincial Park) in two days. He also did a 60k non-stop hike in Algonquin with our hiking overnight (we started at 4pm-ish) and his longest run was 40k. He was always up for adventure but also perfectly happy to snooze on the couch.

He was the best dog in the world, and I miss him.

We let him go on the anniversary of my dad's death, which seemed fitting. 

I am pretty emotional right now.

The shelter I mentioned Luc spending three years in before being pulled by a rescue in Ontario - I had his tag from that shelter, and I kept it on him. It had tremendous sentimental value. Around 3.5 years ago we lost ALL of his tags, including the shelter tag. I looked everywhere, and was so upset, because I knew he wasn't going to live that much longer.

While I was at the vet with our beagle today, I got a call from a woman WHO FOUND THEM! She left them by some abandoned tennis courts in my neighbourhood and I picked them up on the way home.

I'm so emotional. This crumbled up bit of metal means the world to me.


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## cagal (Sep 3, 2013)

Wow - that’s an incredible story. I’m so happy you got the tags back. It’s nice to know there are still a lot of kind hearted people out there.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

cagal said:


> Wow - that’s an incredible story. I’m so happy you got the tags back. It’s nice to know there are still a lot of kind hearted people out there.


Thanks cagal. I never expected it. When we first lost them, I had hoped they'd turn up. But 3.5 years later? I'd given up on them.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Excellent story with a happy ending!


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Thanks @WNGD and @dogma13 - to say this has made my day is an understatement! I am friendly with one of our vets who was seeing Xerxes today, I got the call right before she came out to get him (what with COVID rules and all) and she was so happy too. We threw a party to celebrate Luc turning 15 (human party, not dogs) and she came so she knows what Luc meant to me and us.

(For Letterkenny fans, we threw Luc a super-soft 15th birthday party!)


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

Thanks for sharing, that's such a wonderful story, and what a great life you gave him.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Wow! That is so incredibly kind. 
So Happy that these were returned to you. 
I guess Luc felt like you needed a hand with something.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

@Dunkirk - thanks. He opened my eyes to how amazing the world is with a dog(s), I think we worked well together.

@Sabis mom - it's been rough lately, so something wonderful like this is great for me right now.


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## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

I think he was sending you a message, always with you. ♥


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

ksotto333 said:


> I think he was sending you a message, always with you. ♥


I know it might sound weird to say about a dog, but he is one of the loves of my life. I would've done anything for him. He's always in my heart, even now.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

jarn said:


> I know it might sound weird to say about a dog, but he is one of the loves of my life. I would've done anything for him. He's always in my heart, even now.


Doesn't sound weird to me.
I tell people all the time that Sabi owns my soul. She is forever with me.

True story, back when I had a bedroom up on the top shelf of my bookcase I kept previous dogs collars and tags. All sitting up there with their pictures. Bud, Sabi, Freeway and Sabre (who died when I was about six!). I was having a really bad time and one afternoon was particularly rotten. I heard a noise and went to investigate. All the dog tags were swinging gently against the edge of the shelf. 
No one in the house but me and Punk, who had been curled up beside me in the living room, no windows open and the top shelf was 6 feet off the floor. 
I believe that they are always watching and I have come to think over the years that collars and tags have some special symbolism.


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## ksotto333 (Aug 3, 2011)

No matter how much you love your dogs, there's always that one. That one is so much more, impossible to replace, always an aching hole in your heart. That was my Tess, she drew in guests and family like a magnet. She was beloved. My 3 year old grandson was laying on the hill today with Grandpa and said "look! There's Tess in the clouds" ♥💔 Peace be with you, and your memories of Luc.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

Sabis mom said:


> Doesn't sound weird to me.
> I tell people all the time that Sabi owns my soul. She is forever with me.
> 
> True story, back when I had a bedroom up on the top shelf of my bookcase I kept previous dogs collars and tags. All sitting up there with their pictures. Bud, Sabi, Freeway and Sabre (who died when I was about six!). I was having a really bad time and one afternoon was particularly rotten. I heard a noise and went to investigate. All the dog tags were swinging gently against the edge of the shelf.
> ...


Luc is for me what Sabi is for you. You guys would all get it!

That's a lovely story. We have Luc and Teagan's paw prints in a shadow box with Luc's 'Swim Bark Run' collar he got when we went to Lake Placid for Toby's first Ironman (he and I hiked while my husband did triathlete things). We'll scatter his ashes deep in the La Cloche Silhouette Trail in Killarney, we haven't been able to go as Neb is so aged he just can't get there now - but when the time comes, we will. It's where he belongs. 

His first backpacking trip, two weeks after I adopted him, was in Killarney - I had to carry him across streams because he was scared (having spent most of his life in a shelter), but he came into his own and became the best hiker and backpacker. Four weeks later we were on the north shore of Lake Superior in Pukaskwa, I had hurt my ankle and he scared a bear away that came into our campsite (everything was clean), he helped me get out and up hills when my ankle was swollen and tender (I'd torn ligaments).



ksotto333 said:


> No matter how much you love your dogs, there's always that one. That one is so much more, impossible to replace, always an aching hole in your heart. That was my Tess, she drew in guests and family like a magnet. She was beloved. My 3 year old grandson was laying on the hill today with Grandpa and said "look! There's Tess in the clouds" ♥💔 Peace be with you, and your memories of Luc.


Oh Tess sounds special! I love your grandson saying that. It sounds like she got into everyone's hearts.


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## karmen_maddison (Aug 21, 2021)

jarn said:


> Luc was my first dog, my heart dog, I loved him with every fibre of my being. Showbox  jiofi.local.html tplinklogin
> I got him at around 4 years old, pulled by a rescue in Ontario from an overcrowded no kill shelter where he'd been for around three years.
> 
> He died 3 years ago this December at 15.5 years old. He was senile, and having increasing issues with pain and illness that we were unable to address with meds. When he got a bit of a flu he just couldn't recover properly. He was becoming aggressive with Neb and Xerxes and my husband (never me). He needed help sometimes walking - we got a Help Em Up harness, as his laryngeal paralysis had progressed to a polyneuropathy and his rear end didn't work right.


first of all sorry for your loss you must have been so attached to him and I'M happy u got the tags back ...
for me Last day of finals and I get a call that my dog suddenly fell ill. 12 years old and last week was energetic and normal, this week couldn't move very well and found out later that while I was taking my last final she was euthanized. I am crushed. I loved this dog so much, and when I came into the house to see her body for the first time it was a whole new amount of pain.


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

karmen_maddison said:


> first of all sorry for your loss you must have been so attached to him and I'M happy u got the tags back ...
> for me Last day of finals and I get a call that my dog suddenly fell ill. 12 years old and last week was energetic and normal, this week couldn't move very well and found out later that while I was taking my last final she was euthanized. I am crushed. I loved this dog so much, and when I came into the house to see her body for the first time it was a whole new amount of pain.


That's so hard Karmen. It takes awhile to grieve - really is a process, years-long. So sorry for your loss.


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