farewell diesel

this weekend i took a brief escape up north to our family cottage. not surprisingly, i captured many moments of my time there.

as much fun as long weekends at the cottage can be, unfortunately there always seems to be a sad story to tell at the end of it and this one is no exception.

one of the dogs from across the lake, diesel the rottweiler, got into scuffle with a porcupine on friday (this wasn’t his first run-in with one). usually it’s just a matter of pulling the needles out of his snout, but he actually had needles in his mouth and down his throat, so he required immediate veterinary care. he was put out and the vets removed all that they could except for a few that were located in his jugular. the risk was extremely high to remove the remaining needles, so they left them and continued to monitor him.

diesel was released and came back to the cottage on saturday, where his family stayed close by.

during our paddle boat ride on sunday my mom and i stopped over to say hello to diesel and his family. as we approached the dock, wobbling on the waves, i snapped a few photos of him greeting us. the poor guy already suffers from an old head injury from when he kicked by a horse years ago. the right part of his skull is caved in and his right eye has sunken in over the years. even with all the discomfort he must have been in, he still greeted us with a smiling face.

monday, my mom called me to tell me that diesel was having trouble breathing and that he had passed away.

rest in peace old friend. may you catch as many porcupines as your heart desires now.