Saying Goodbye...

For the past several months Monica and I have had the honor of caring for a dog so sweet, so innocent and so sympathetic that we are better, more humble people for the experience.  Our beloved German Shepherd, Ripp had a condition common to the breed called Degenerative Myelopathy, or DM, which causes loss of nerve reflex at the base of the spine and slowly creeps its way up the spinal column.  There are a number of things that can go wrong while this is happening including organ failure and pneumonia, but paralysis is certain if your dog survives everything else.  The only comfort in the experience is that it is a painless disease.  Insidious, but pain free.  

Monica found Ripp by following a group called German Shepherd Rescue & Adoptions back in 2012.  Ripp had just been turned over to them after Animal Control or the Sheriff's office was called to remove him from the premesis in South Carolina where he lived with his first family.  They left him alone in their backyard unloved and unattended.  In their extreme negligence he developed severe ear infections that were never addressed.  GSRA were asking for donations to help pay for the surgery he had to remove the infections.  The infections were so bad that they destroyed both his inner ears.  Doctors had to perform a total ear canal ablation, which means that his inner ear and ear canal were removed from both sides and he was left completely deaf.  We donated to the cause and Monica followed his recovery online hoping all along that we would be lucky enough to bring him into our home.