Beautiful Belle, originally uploaded by pmarkham.

On Saturday, October 24, 2009, our beautiful lab/sheltie mix named Belle died in our arms. She had lived 16 years and 7 months — an amazingly long time for a dog her size. Our house feels so empty without her. There will never be another dog that could replace her.

My thanks go out to the staff and vets at the Delano Veterinary Clinic and to our friend Dr. Brek Perry, a vet that we met when he worked at the New Hope Animal Hospital and who is now on staff with the Westgate Clinic. These wonderful people helped Belle live her extraordinary life and helped her die in comfort and with dignity and when the time came. We are extremely grateful.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting photos of Belle on my Flickr site and stories about her here at the Minnesota Geek. I hope you’ll stick around and celebrate her life with me.

–Pete