I've always said and thought that animals were more than just pets, they are family. The things they do make you the happiest, and when things happen to them, it's harder than most things in my opinion.

Growing up I was taught to be an animal loved, no matter what it is. Besides horses, those are a work in progress for me since they scare the living poop out of me. As I was growing up, we lived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and nature. We ALWAYS have had lots of animals, including the sweetest fainting goats. But more importantly, we've always had dogs. I'm a huge dog lover and dog advocate. If I could, I would run my own dog shelter. I would actually give my heart and soul to save all of my dogs. Which makes what happened last week so hard.

Last week we had to rush our Mastiff 45 minutes to the emergency MU vet clinic after finding him laying and unable to pick up his head. Due to the virus, we weren't even allowed to go inside the clinic with him. We had to drop him off outside of the doors and wait in the parking lot. We were there for hours and got the news we were really hoping not to hear. They told us they had found a tumor on his spleen that had ruptured and was causing bleeding inside of his abdomen. We brought him home with them basically telling us he wouldn't make it. Here we are a week later and he's acting like his normal Ozzie self again.

We know he still has cancer and we know that there might not be much time left, but we're not thinking about that right now. Right now we're soaking in all of the time with him that we can soak in. We have absolutely always spoiled our dogs, but the past week he has been spoiled beyond belief. He has had so much human food, lots of car rides, lots of river trips, and rides on the ranger through the woods.

Dogs aren't just pets, they should be part of your family or honestly, you shouldn't take on that responsibility. Dogs trust you to give them the best life. They are confined to your home already, you should give them the best life they can get because they have no other option. Let them sleep in your bed, don't kennel them all of the time, give them lots of toys, give them so many treats, walks, car rides, snuggles, everything. Do not confine them to a small part of your house and no freedom. Hearing them say they found an aggressive tumor was one of the hardest things because he's not just a pet or dog, he's a part of our family and nothing will ever change that. We would and will do anything for all of our animals because we love them and they are family to us.