On June 11th, 2020 we had to make the decision to allow our beloved Katie to cross over the Rainbow Bridge and be free from her pain.

Katie came to us as a a rescue from Austin Boxer Rescue named Midnight in September of 2010. My husband and went to the adoption day with our mind set on bringing home a ‘classic’ looking boxer. My 6 year old son was uninterested in the process and didn’t care to visit with any of the dogs. When all of a sudden he points to this little boxer across the field, “I want to see that one”, This dog was anything but ‘Classic’ but he finally showed interest so of course we had to a least let him look, thinking that if he pets this one, then maybe he will want to pet others. Well, we got there and learned the little girls name was Midnight, they placed her at about 2 years old. She was small only about 40 pounds, they called her a petite boxer. Tyler petted her and the handler asked if he wanted to walk her, so he walked her down to the Basketball Court. I snapped a picture of him stilling there with her, and you could tell these two belonged together. After a home vist, we brought Midnight home and changed her name to Katie. Katie was so full of love and the desire to please. She was about as perfect a dog as one could ever ask for and people were always amazed at how well mannered she was. Of course, she wasn’t always that way, we had many struggles early on, she obviously didn’t have a good life before being rescued. I will never forget shortly after we got her, she got off the leash, I panicked and went to grab her collar, she cowered to the ground and was visible shaken. I felt so sick knowing how she must have been treated. With a little help from the best trainer in the world, Tara Stermer, from Training by Tara. We made it though those difficult times and learned what Katie needed so she could become that perfect dog every got to know. She was the perfect hostess, greeting everyone who came in our house with a nuge, asking for a pet. She loved when we would have a party and there would be a lot of people , she would go from person to person making sure she didn’t leave anyone out. What a blessing to have this bundle of love in our family.

On April 30th, I woke to Katie not wanting to move, I was scared and called the Vet and immediately took her in to see what was going on with my girl who was normally so full of energy.  After keeping her most of the day to perform tests and examine her, it was a rectal sweep that gave the answers we were dreading. A colorectal mass with necrosis – Cancer. Given her age and heart mummer the vet said she was not a candidate for surgery, as the surgery was high risk and would not cure her, only buy her a few months. So we took her home to enjoy what time she has left. We were able to enjoy almost 6 more weeks, it was hard though watching our normally playful girl, going downhill. We could tell she would want to play, but the pain just wouldn’t let her. On June 11th we finally had to make the decision that we dreaded, her pain was too much and she had stopped eating, we couldn’t let her suffer any longer. Even though I miss her everyday, I am comforted by the knowledge that she had 10 wonderful years with us. My son got to grow up with his dog, who loved him so much. Please keep our family in your prayers as we navigate our life without a member of our family.