Our Pets Also Grieve

 Good morning,

Eleven years ago our daughter, Catherine, took this picture of Penny (left) and Erik shortly after Erik came home to live with us.  I love the "smile" on Penny's face in this picture.  Penny, age 4, immediately took Erik into her care to learn all the important things about being wonderful dog.  

They shared toys and bones.

They relaxed together.

They traveled and stayed in hotels together.  That's our Wendy to the right who was also along for this Labrador Retriever Nationals event in St. Louis.

They swam together.

They guarded the back porch together.

Penny was his "nurse" and stayed close as Erik recovered from knee surgery. A few years later, Erik did the same for Penny after her spleen was removed and more recently was her constant companion as she grew old..

They visited with neighbors together.  Our sweet neighbor always had treats for them both.

Aside:  The neighbor was our friend of more than 40 years, Elsa.  Elsa passed two years ago and we all miss her so very much.  She knew we intended to name our next dog "Elsa" and was so very pleased that we planned to do so. 

Erik followed in Penny's agility footsteps.  His knee surgery put a stop to his agility activities.  He has a new job here now as Chief of Security.

Erik and Penny slept on our bed together. Note his tail wrapped around her back.

They played in the snow together.

Since Penny's passing this week, Erik is very, very sad.  He continues to look for her and wonders why she hasn't come home.  I so wish we could explain it to him.

We are giving Erik lots and lots of extra love and attention as he grieves.  He is just heartbroken.

If you missed it a few days ago, our Tribute to Penny is here.

Lois