I’m heartbroken as I write this. Our beloved lab Emmet unexpectedly died last night after 10 years of bringing joy to our lives.

We raised him from the time he was eight weeks old. He was a remarkable dog. The original plan was for him to be a service dog for Helping Paws, but after he completed the training, it was decided to not place him as a service dog for several reasons that I won’t detail here right now. The good part of that decision was that he was permanently placed with us.

Emmet was one of the sweetest dogs you’d ever meet. He greeted everyone with a wagging tail. He was quick with his kisses and he overflowed with enthusiasm for everything. He brought more humor and joy to our lives than I can even coherently express right now. My wife and I will miss him greatly.

The only consolation about losing him tonight was that his last day on Earth was the kind of day that was his favorite. We spent the day at the farm and he got to play frisbee for hours, play in his kiddie pool (the one pictured here), play with other farm animals, and run around like a nut. We lost him to a relatively common problem in dogs, a malady called GDV (Gastric Dialation and Volvulus). In layman’s terms, he twisted his stomach, cutting off vital blood flow to his stomach and probably his intestines and other internal organs. It all happened fast and we were too far from an emergency vet who could perform the surgery needed to be able to save him. We had another vet help us put him to sleep while we held him in our arms.

I put together a collage of photos from his life. It is incomplete right now, and I hope to put up more over the next few days. You can see the set by clicking here.

Tags: Dogs, Emmet, GDV, Labrador Retriever