With a very heavy heart we unexpectedly say goodbye to our beloved Daisy.

Hello everyone.  I have some very sad news from here on the farm.  I came home Friday night from work to find our girl Daisy very very weak and ill.   At first I thought she had eaten something she shouldn't again as this has been a problem for the last 6 - 7 months or so.  I called my wife who was almost home and we hurriedly fed the animals and put daisy in the car to take her to the hospital.  She tried to stand up to watch the car ride but was only able to do so for a few minutes and then collapsed on the back seat.

The Vet took a few X-rays of her to see what was going on and had some very bad news.  Turns out the last 6 months when Daisy was getting sick it wasn't because she was eating things she wasn't supposed to.  The problem was actually due to a cancerous tumor that had been growing in her spleen for an unknown time.  Each time she got sick it was because it ruptured and bled, but, because it was not that big, the bleeding would stop and she could recover in a couple days.  

This time however this was not the case.  By the time we got her to the hospital and got the diagnoses she was barely able to hold her eyes open to tell us goodbye.  Due to the advanced stage of the cancer, even if they did surgery, they only gave her a 5% chance of surviving more than a week or two.  We could not put her through that since we knew she had already been fighting it on her own for so long.  She was finally ready to take a break from all her hard work and was waiting for us to say it was ok.  

Her Thursday was spent with the kids and I in the truck.  I came home from work early and took her with me to town to get parts and feed, then we picked up the kids to go to swimming practice.  I had to help her in the truck not knowing that she wasn't getting old but was fighting a battle I knew nothing about. When we got home she wanted to ride in the tractor and after helping her into the tractor she helped my wife and I feed all the animals and checked the piglets before coming back into the house.

I would like to share some pics of how we will always remember her.   She was a great help on the farm and my closest friend.  She never judged, was always here when I got home from work, and always showed unconditional love to everyone she knew.  This was evident at our customer party every year where she kept everyone company and went on the hayrides in the tractor to keep everyone safe.

Daisy helping check the cows.

Every time I went to check on the cows or pigs she was there to help.  She became very skilled at riding the 4-wheeler with me and constantly helped fix fence, herd cattle, and hunt mushrooms.  

This was a pic from a few years ago showing all the flowers in bloom.  We were on our way out to check the cows and as you can see she was with me and ready to go.  She is now resting beside the trees in the background where she can see the sunset and watch over our house each night.  

My wife and I rescued her from the pound the winter after we got married.  I have never been without a dog my entire life and after moving into our house I knew I couldn't go long without a companion.  When we found her she had been found roaming the streets in Wooster and was adopted once before but the family brought her back because their child wasn't taking care of her.  They have no idea what they lost by doing that.  When we brought her home she was very quite and shy.  But that wore off in about a week and the true Daisy came out and shined ever since.
 Little did I know how much she would become a part of our lives.  She constantly tried to ride our first open station tractor with me but the deck was small and it wasn't safe.  So we got a bigger tractor with a cab so she and the kids could go with me.  I could not start the truck or the tractor without her being there to go along.   Yesterday was the first time in 10 years that she was not with me for a ride in the tractor 

The pic below was Daisy and I taking a break after a long day on the farm.   I didn't realize until she was gone just how close she always was.  She literally met me at the door every single time I came through it and was with me until I left through it to go to work.  One winter she even went with me to work while my wife and daughter were in Japan.  It was that winter that someone approached me in my plow truck in the middle of the night.  She jumped up and started barking and they immediately left the area.  I never had a problem again after that.

Here is a picture of her helping birth piglets.  She was such a great mother and would wait for each one to be born and then would vigorously clean it off and nuzzle it until it was up and running.  Once she started helping with the pigs farrowing we had much less piglets die during and just after being born because of this.  She was also very protective of the barn and would quickly run off anything or anyone she didn't think should be there without my permission.



My wife has shown our entire family the joys of camping when on vacation.  Because of this we were always able to take Daisy with us on our vacations.  Below are a few pics from our last vacation to the outer banks.  She literally went everywhere with us, and yes, she would even sit at the table when she was allowed to when we were camping.

Mom, is that mine?

She was waiting for her part of breakfast, when I snapped the picture she thought my wife was going to eat her treat and was very concerned!

Hey, that is mine, don't eat that!

Below is our last family picture together.  I believe she started getting sick not too long after this picture because that is when she started having trouble getting in and out of the truck and tractor.  She was very good at hiding it and we didn't realize her decline until the last 4 or 5 weeks.  However, we still thought, after a visit to the vet over the holidays, that she was just having upset stomachs and would get better soon.

It will be very hard to go back to the outer banks without our baby.  She would sit under the truck and watch the kids play.  It will be even harder to come home from work every day to a house without her, or go on a trip without her standing on the center console of the truck watching where we are headed.  We will never replace her nor will we ever forget her.  I only hope that we can find another as caring as her that can take over all her duties here on the farm.

My wife and I both feel as though we have lost our closest companion we have ever had.  I long for the day when we can be back together as a family again.  This is gonna hurt for a while and I hope that over time I can remember our times together without the pain of missing her taking over so badly.  I can deal with almost anything life has thrown at me but saying goodbye to loved ones is something I am very bad at dealing with.  It seems like it gets harder each time.  The difference now is the one I confided in and had comfort from when no one else was around is no longer here to help.

Until we meet again,

Kenny, Natsuko, Lisa, and Alex.