Welcome to the family Darby ”Hatrick” Walker…

Yes, this was our foster dog Daffy, who somehow, some way became another forever dog we have even though it was the busiest time to even think about adding another responsibility. At the end of the first week, the kids were in love with him and my wife and I were quite fond of him as well but couldn’t even fathom the number of activities and work ahead to try to make this work. We decided to ask for another week from Second Hand Hounds and they granted it, but as the second week went on I think we knew the answer was going to be yes as it was yet another week he was with us and we were all becoming attached. Don’t get me wrong potty training is never great and when everyone is busy it makes it that much harder. However, he seemed to catch on pretty fast as well as started sleeping through the night from 11pm-6am by the end of the first week. Seemed too perfect. So fast forward to today when our activities have now wound down, I am happy to say we still have him and glad we figured it out.

Where the name came from you ask? Well Darby (Hendrickson) was the first Minnesota Wild player to score on home ice at the Excel Energy Center once the team was created in 2020. Our eldest son used to watch the History of the Minnesota Wild over and over all the time when he was younger so needless to say it has been ingrained in our heads.

Darby Hatrick and Lainey Lou - I think the dogs have become friends as they sit in the Shed office all day together.

Yesterday our dog woke up and nothing seemed off as I took her outside as I normally do. However, when we got back inside and I normally give her a treat with her daily pill in it she sniffed it and just walked away. That is not normal at all…

Doodle just looked sick as she would walk up to me while working yesterday

Fast forward a little while and she kept throwing up and then when I would take her outside she would attempt to eat more grass to throw up. We ended up calling the vet and taking her in. They were very concerned and did multiple tests which all came back good for us and later in the day she came home after some shots and we could just monitor her for the rest of the day. She only drank a little late last night but would throw up after each sip of water. The vet told us if it continued like that we should call the next morning. At midnight last night I took her out once more and she came inside and did have some water and didn’t throw up the rest of the night. I decided incase she had to go outside quick I would just sleep on the couch with her so she wouldn’t have to jump down from our big bed and walk so far to the door. Needless to say I didn’t sleep well all night as the couple of times I woke up I checked on her fearing the worst as she really hadn’t eaten or drank anything for quite some time.

Work up this morning and the doodle had moved around a little bit but still very tired

I took her out this morning before I went for a run and then she went back inside and slept on our bed and my wife watch over her till I got back. Once I got back I took her out again and once we got back inside she seemed a little more pep in her step and took her daily treat, ate the little bit of food I offered her and drank some water. Hopefully, things keep looking up today as I am not sure I can go though another night like that.

Monitoring her from the shed office today she has now had 2 small helpings of food and water

I shared this yesterday on Instagram but thought I would share it here as well.  Our pups Tucker and PJ were our first kids before all the human ones came along.  This picture was taken in March 2014 right after a haircut.

A little over a week ago we had to make the tough decision to put our dog down.  Not that we will ever know how much pain he was in but we could tell he was in pain and couldn’t control his body as he once could.  In fact, over the last couple of months he never really came out of his kennel except for to eat, drink, and go outside when we forced him to.  Then in the final week before we made the decision he was throwing up almost every day and the accidents were happening more frequently.

My wife and I had had the conversation for probably the last couple of years but more seriously in the last couple of weeks before the day.  Tucker had been with us for 13 years, with a birthday coming up this October 24th, he was the first of our “kids”, and he has lived in multiple houses/states.  It was a really tough decision to make that I think looking back my wife and I didn’t really realize how hard it would be in the week(s) after.  We believe our decision was right as we saw his health declining we didn’t want him to suffer day to day as he had to walk up/down steps to get outside and selfishly we didn’t want his last days to be ones where we would be angry that he was having accidents or throwing up all over.

As my wife and I talked about it in the weeks leading up to the day, we both wanted to be with him until the end and in our minds that was non-negotiable.  We did not want to just drop him off at a vet or humane society where his last moments would be filled scared, nervous, or anxious as he heard other dogs barking in the background.  We wanted him with us, with his sister PJ (who we have had for 11 years now), and his 3 human brother/sisters.  My wife ended up finding this local service that would come out and perform the procedure at our house.

On Tucker’s final day I ended up waking up early to take him for a walk instead of my normal run by myself.  I knew it was going to be a long day of tears, sadness, and thoughts as we waited until the scheduled time late in the day.  I went to work as normal but ended up leaving work around noon and going home to take Tucker to the dog park one last time.  He used to love the dog park when he was younger and my wife and I would take him all the time.  You could see a little spark in his eyes while we were there but at the same time, you could tell he was frustrated that he couldn’t do what the other dogs were doing.  He didn’t “run” around but still enjoyed wandering around and checking out the things to jump on.  After the dog park, we went back home and I just laid on the couch with Tucker for probably 2 hours.  Honestly, I am not even sure the last time I just sat in one place for two hours and did nothing.  Then we ate dinner and I figured it was time to take him for another walk or his last walk with the whole family.  Once we got back from our walk all the kids sat with Tucker and were reading him books while he laid next to them.  Finally, around 7pm we got the knock on the door and knew it was time.

Tucker, you truly were an amazing dog and I will miss you dearly.  Thank you for all the times you were there for me and for making my life a little bit better/more exciting.