Santiago 03/10/2007 - 07/25/2020

Last night we made the hard decision to put down our dear companion Santiago.  He had been suffering from all sorts of old dog ailments for the past three years and, while we tried our best to keep him healthy and comfortable, on Saturday he reached the point where we couldn't help him anymore.

The day we got Santiago.

We adopted Santiago - I called him Mr. Iago - from one of the Wife's friends.  We named him after both the Camino de Santiago and the Wife's favorite character from Ernest Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea". He was five years old when we got him.  He's spent his first five years being a farm dog.  Unfortunately he had a taste for the neighbor's chickens so we took him in to keep him out of trouble.

Iago was such a laid back pupper.  Nothing bothered him.  He was unflappable.  The only thing that would set him off was when he saw a raptor circling overhead.  He would run around the yard barking at it until it flew away.  Other birds, big or small, would not even get a second glance from him.

He wasn't much into toys.  You could throw a ball and he would bring it back but after the third throw he would be done.  He did have a plush candy corn that he liked but he would only grab it when he had to go out to do his business.  We started calling it his "pee pee corn".

Iago was not a smart dog - in fact, he was as dumb as a box of rocks - but he was the sweetest dog I've ever had.  He loved licking hands, chewing ice cubes, eating hibiscus flowers, and hunting rabbits in the backyard.

Iago being a trooper with snuggle bear.

In 2017 he developed laryngeal paralysis.  This made it hard for him to breath.  If he got too excited he would weeze and almost passed out.  His heavy breathing became the background noise in our house.  Later the same year he developed issues in his rear end - a possible result of being hit by a car as a pup.  He was started on opioids and anti-inflammatory meds to control the pain.

Over 2019 and 2020 he slowly lost control of his rear legs.  He became incontinent and would spontaneously poop ... often in his sleep.  He could walk but his rear legs were becoming shaky.  He also began suffering from short seizures.

On Saturday he refused to go down the stairs.  The final straw was when he struggled to go up two stair treads.  We knew it was time.  We let him go so he wouldn't suffer anymore.

The Wife and I will miss him.  The house is already so quiet without his heavy breathing.  We are comforted that he lived so long - thirteen years and four months - and we could give him a good life in our home.  If someone ever asks me to describe him in a few words I will simply say he was a very good boy. 

March 10, 2007 - July 25, 2020

Santiago

aka Mr.Iago, Old Man, and many other names.