Rex, Truly Man's Best Friend

As I type this I am still in shock, but my mind keeps reeling, so thus here I am at my computer trying to get my thoughts into words.  Our family suddenly and unexpectedly lost our dog Rex last night.   I didn't awake this morning to his tap dancing claws on our hardwood floor because it was potty time.  He awoke last night whining, but I was asleep and didn't notice until Morgan (our other boxer) jumped on the bed, woke me up and then refused to get down.  That's when I realized Rex was whining.  His chest cavity was huge and bloated and he was having trouble breathing.  Josh rushed him to Olympia Pet Emergency and they said he had gastric torsion.  The stomach basically flips over on itself and expands with trapped swallowed air and fermentation gases.  Needless to say there weren't many viable options and he was laid to rest in Josh's arms. 

Dogs are the most amazing animals.  Not because they are all the sharpest tools in the shed because that isn't what makes them so special.  It's their loyalty.  Of course there is that beginning stage that is rough, potty training...  And even once that is taken care of they are a lot of work between feeding, finding a dog sitter when you leave for vacation, giving them attention when life seems to get so busy, but just like kids, they really become a part of the family.  To lose them is like losing a member of your family and it is ever so painful. 

Here is our tribute to an awesome, loving, goofy, loyal, Rex.

When we brought Rex home he was a whole 3 pounds and the last puppy left from his litter...

 Our first stop was to visit my parents who had just bought Rex's sister Sydney....  Needless to say when I saw the size difference (Sydney was 7 pounds...) I was sure Rex was going to die in the night!!

 He obviously did not :-)  He was quite a snuggler and wanted to be with you/right up next to you all of the time.  He would squeeze his way into the middle of Josh and I constantly.  We would always be baffled at where we would find him in the middle of the night!  He also hated to be alone!  For a long time he would have major anxiety and diarrhea if we left him alone...  Thankfully he grew out of the diarrhea thing!

He loved playing with his sister Sydney.  So naturally it was a blessing for him when we had to move into my parent's basement for a few months while I completed my student teaching. 

 He was spoiled to say the least...  Every Christmas he got a stocking.  This particular Christmas Josh had bought me some perfume from Victoria's Secret.  It came in a box that whistled when you would open it.  It freaked Rex out!  He spent hours tearing apart that box until it no longer whistled at him!

Camping was one of Rex's favorite things to do.  He would run around the cars as we were packing deathly afraid that we might leave him behind!  He loved the car ride and his favorite thing was the beach walk.  He got anxiety while we were camping though and would eat nothing...  He would actually dump over his bowl of food and attempt (it was really not a strong suite) to bury his food with pine needles using his nose...  He even tried to bury his water.... 

Below he is having fun with his sister Sydney. 

Another favorite for Rex was to sit in the yard waiting for a bird to fly by just so that he could go crazy chasing the bird's shadow!  This would entertain him for hours!

Below he is "shadow watching" with Sydney. 

Rex's life changed a bit when we brought Morgan home in 2008...  There was definitely some jealousy issues at first, but in no time they were best buds :-)  Rex acted as the "protector" while Morgan is a bit of a chicken!  He was her protection (along with Josh and I) from thunder and strangers.  Not that Rex would have done anything...  He just sounded tough and I guess that was good enough for Morgan!

 Here he is doing his daily duty of making sure no one/nothing is in the front yard that doesn't belong!

Our beach trips became even more fun with two!  A bit more difficult, but well worth the effort of keeping track of two dogs!

Not long after we brought Morgan home our neighbors got horses.  This became a new adventure as the dogs would play up and down the fence line with the horses.  It was so funny because the horses would wait at the fence if the dogs weren't out and visa versa!  It was really cute!  They came to know the word "horses" quite well!

We further threw Rex's world upside down when we brought Lincoln home...  He was very curious!  He even got to the point to where when we got home he would check every room in the house to figure out where Lincoln was. 

He was the best and words cannot express how much we loved him and will miss him.  I could type for days about the memories that we have.  When he got hit by a car and we thought we might lose him after just a year, how he hated the pot rack and the blinds on the slider (he would go running scared if they moved?),  how his food dish would occasionally send him running across the house because it made a noise, how much he LOVED cheese, how he would freak out and act like a spaz if you said "sister", "ride", "treat", or "Alex".   

LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!  Slobber and all :-)