Sadly, my vet and I decided that the kindest thing we could do was let Boz go. The coughing was likely severe collapsed trachea and not kennel cough. He'd lost over a pound in weight in a week, the cough/vomit cycle remained uninterrupted unless he was deeply sedated. He was a limp rag this morning after a 3 hour nonstop cough and vomit jag. And he was also not a surgical candidate given the severity of the issue--which meant we couldn't remove his rotting teeth.

He and I fought hard to try to make any kind of progress, but ultimately, my efforts just ended up being torture to him...trying to get food and pills into him and trying to have him have any kind of life. Being alive isn't the same as living.

These are the dogs of my heart. The ones who only pass through my hands for a short while. Sometimes too short a while. These are the dogs I often take in...the ones who may not have much time. Some surprise me. Some bring tears. But what they get from me is my absolute best. They get my time and my effort and I will share in their struggle to whatever degree I can. But I will not prolong suffering. And Boz was suffering.

This is the hardest thing. Some damage just can't be undone.

So I held him while he made the journey to the next stage. Now he can run and walk without coughing and gagging. Now he can get air in without a struggle. Food is a friend and not something to be feared.

Sail on, little man. We hardly knew you, but you will be missed much.

Boz came to Pugalug from a shelter in the Niagara area where he had been found as a stray. Due to his age and some health issues, rescue was deemed to be the better place for him.

Boz is a very sweet old man who has several significant health challenges. The primary struggle being a very severe cough that interferes with his sleeping, and more importantly, his eating and keeping food down. His foster family originally thought this might be kennel cough, but is no longer so sure of that. Unfortunately, the coughing leads to vomiting which has hampered his progress as food and pills have not been staying down. The coughing and vomiting have also made poor Boz fearful of food bowls and eating.

He has some reduced vision and hearing and some very bad teeth. However, our primary struggle is the coughing. Our fear is that this may be an advanced case of collapsing trachea which would be a very bad thing indeed. We will continue to work closely with our vet and see if we can come to some resolution of this.

Boz has been heavily sedated the last couple of days in an effort to ease the coughing and give meds a chance to work. He is being fed in very small amounts (a tablespoon an hour) in the hopes that we can keep some nutrition on his stomach. He is a sweet boy, a somewhat anxious boy who clearly has had some rough handling in his past. He gets along well with all the other dogs and the resident cat.

Keep this old man in your thoughts. He has a battle ahead of him that I'm not sure we can win.