This post has taken me a bit to write because I want you to feel happy, not sad, after you read it.

The first dog I ever worked with at Big Dog Ranch Rescue, Tag, passed away. He overcame a lot in his life but couldn’t beat this. I saw him on Wednesday, he wasn’t eating, vomited a little and later that day stopped drinking water. He was taken to Medical; by Friday he was clearly weak and I sat with him Friday morning for awhile, opened his kennel doors while he rested his head in my lap as I sang to him (I’m sorry medical staff). I told him he was tough and he could do it but deep down I had the feeling I was saying good-bye. I left hoping I’d see him one more time again …

Tag had been at the Ranch for almost a year. He had some issues & never found his forever home. Except he did. If Big Dog Ranch Rescue had not been there for Tag, he would have lived the last year of his life on the streets or he would have been gone a long time ago. While there are dogs who get nervous or anxious at a rescue, Tag took to the routine of the Ranch: daily attention and care, two big square meals a day and people who cared enough to teach him manners. During the time I knew Tag, he was happy. Would he have been happier in a home, sitting with his human and playing the ball catch game? Yes. Given that Tag was an owner dump there is a chance Big Dog Ranch Rescue provided Tag the best quality of life he ever had.

Tag was wonderful with humans and when you brushed him, Tag would lean against you in complete bliss. That is how I’ll remember Tag best, brushing him with lavender while he leaned into my legs and I leaned into him.

I love Tag and I am envisioning Tag & Jade & so many other dogs, running in a big field on the perfect day, with big buckets of crisp water, a loving pat on the head & maybe Tag can hear me telling him “Good Boy”. Because he is, he was and he always will be the dog that taught me that a dog doesn’t have to live in your house to live in your heart, and home most definitely is where the heart is.