Pet Memorial

It is still rough at our house without our Zack-man roaming around.  I am not going to get all sappy and make myself cry though.  I am trying my best to know that Zack had a great life, and I hope that he is happy wherever he is now.  I did, however, want to make some kind of memorial for him.  I wanted to have something in our house to honor him.

For Zack, we opted for a group cremation with his remains spread on a farm here in Florida.  We did have the option of taking his remains home with us, but we were a little eerie on the idea.  I thought the farm was a nice alternative, so that’s where he is now.  We did decide to get a paw print mold made for us.  We used a great company, ironically named “Paw Prints“.  Everyone at Paw Prints was so helpful, and I am so grateful to have found a company with such amazing employees.

Here are the molds that we received…

Included with the paw print molds were a couple of nice notes and some other sympathy gifts.  The paper with the heart on it pictured below can actually be planted, and a tree will grow in its place.  I love that I have all of these little things to remember Zack by.

Since I wanted a memorial for Zack, I thought including one of these paw prints molds would be perfect.  I also wanted to include his dogs tags and a couple of my favorite photos of him.

I figured, the best way to put all of these things together would be in a shadow box.  I picked up the one below at Target.

Then, I printed some of my favorite photos of Zack.  Justin and I narrowed it down to two. We ended up going with the top middle two photos.  I just love his happy little face.

I popped the backing out of the shadow box and began organizing the photos, one of the paw print molds and Zack’s tag until I found an arrangement I liked…

I secured the photos with some pearl head pins.

For the tags and paw print mold, I used my hot glue gun.  I figured it was an adhesive that is easily peeled off, that way it wont be a permanent placement if I want to change things up.

Here is the finished product…

We hung the shadow box in our bedroom, so I get to see it first thing, every morning.

I’m unsure if it will live here forever. I think it may be a bit small for this wall.

The last thing I wanted to share is a gift from my sister, Jessica.  I received this bracelet in the mail from her recently…

I swear sisters have some unspoken connection.  The week I received this, I had been scouring Etsy for a piece of jewelry that I could remember Zack by.  This is exactly what I was looking for.

The inside says “You smiled with your eyes, laughed with your tail and loved with your heart”.

I love it so much.  I wear it everyday.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you all get to experience having an amazing pet like Zack.  If you want to read more about his life click here.

 

Life With Zack

In case you do not already know, I have a minor obsession with animals. I won’t even kill bugs.  You may think I am crazy, a lot of people do.  But I just can’t see why I should take a living creature’s life.  Now that I have you up to date on my obsession, I want to tell you about my main man, Zack.  This guy…

Who just so happens to be my favorite kind of animal, a dog. He’s a yellow lab to be precise.

When I was 11 years old, I went with my dad and my grandmother to Pennsylvania from New York, because my dad had to have THE best hunting dog.  He had the perfect genes to become the best duck dog my dad had ever owned.  I was just excited to get a puppy. I didn’t care what genes he had. We are a dog family, since I was a kid. We have always had at least one dog at all times, majority of the time, they were labs.  Zack was our second yellow lab, and he was the most handsome lab I have seen (I may be biased).  My dad didn’t want Zack to be a family dog. He was strictly a hunting dog.  This probably had to do with the fact that I spoiled our dogs and overfed them.  What can I say? They loved food, and I wanted them to love me.  Zack spent most of his early years training with my dad and hunting his little heart out.  He was a great hunter, but also great at destroying things.  He was a crazy young dog. One time, he even ripped part of the siding off of the back of our house.  Let’s just say my dad was less than pleased with Zack that day.

Fast forward a few years to when the “strictly hunting dog” goes everywhere with me and even sleeps in my bed.  It was a lost cause.  Justin also fell for him.  When Justin and I decided to move to Florida, my only condition was that if I go, Zack goes.  It wasn’t hard to convince Justin either, because he already loved him.  Unfortunately, I had to move without him for a month, and let me tell you, the night before we left was a rough one.  I cried and explained to Zack that he would be with us in just one month.  I kept telling Justin that I hated that I couldn’t make him understand, and I felt like I was abandoning him.  But, the month went by quickly, and my parents delivered Zack to Florida. Our lives went on like we hadn’t missed a day.

Everyone says Zack moved to Florida for retirement, and I guess he did, now that I think about it.  He spent his days with us lounging around the house, visiting the dog park, eating whatever he could beg his way into, and going for countless walks.

Even though he had some absolutely insane moments as a puppy, he was always such a sweet dog. He truly wouldn’t hurt a fly.  I remember walking him one time, and he got bitten by a neighbor’s dog. All Zack did was cry. No biting back. No fighting. Just whimpering.  I have never even seen him growl. I asked my dad the other day, if he had ever seen Zack growl, and he said he couldn’t recall a time either.

I loved coming home to his crazy smile. He truly was a happy dog.  Although, when we got our chocolate lab, Charlie, he did protest for a good 2 weeks. He spent all of that time in the bathroom, only coming out for food.  He eventually got used to Charlie and quit the protest.  We know deep down Zack loved Char, but we know for a fact that Charlie L-O-V-E-D Zack.

Zack was a tank. He never had any real health issues. The vet always said he had a strong heart and lungs at every check up.  In the last year, he started to have trouble making it outside to do his number twos, which wasn’t that bad, because he made it outside for his other business.  Fist bump for that one, Zack!  He also struggled on and off with pneumonia, and we thought we were going to lose him a few times.  A couple of weeks ago, our fears came true and the pneumonia did win.  He only had one rough day. Although I had to make the decision, I know he wouldn’t have made it through the night. I am just glad it was only one bad day, and I get to remember my many more happy days with Zack.

Zack was my shadow. I am not going to lie. I miss him like crazy, even his seriously heavy panting and my tripping over him every time I turned around.  I still wake up and expect to see him waiting on my every move. Even though he’s gone now, and I truly have sad days without him, I’m glad I had him for the 16 awesome years he was around. So, thanks for the good times, Zack. You were a great best friend.

P.S. Zack was the best dog ever to dress up.  So, I’ll leave you with some amazing photos of some of his favorite outfits.

 

Dog Dog Dog

I am sure I have told you before, but I have two side kicks. They are my partners in crime around this house, so I need to show you their handsome mugs from time to time. I know I am a crazy dog lady, oh well, I’ll live with it. Here goes nothing…

Handsome amiright?

If you think I am crazy, imagine what they think.

Are you in dog overload now? You’re welcome.