Luke left us on April 12 and again we are heartbroken. Luke was a precious little boy with an amazing story which I hope you have time to read, but before that, I just want to describe Luke for a little bit. If you have multiple dogs you know that certain dogs will demand attention, will always be the first to go for a ride, get to the bowl, welcome you when you come home. That means the others stay in the background and happy to play that support, follower, stable role. Luke was that latter type of doggie, loving, stable, happy, and often in the background. On walks, he was willing and happy to follow Sam through the tall brush or down to the river. He was loving and happy to be petted second, to be fussed on second. He was a joy, a support, a loving part of a greater whole and we were so fortunate to have time to make him the focus of our attention in the last months of his life.

Luke joined our family first as a rescue by our daughter who was hurting from the loss of her long-time dog. A friend at work knew her pain and thought that this little Luke would be perfect. Luke had been adopted and returned twice, which we still do not understand, but he was actually scheduled to be put down by the shelter where he was staying. Our daughter's friend who got word that Luke was scheduled to be put down the next day, actually crawled through a window into the locked shelter and rescued Luke. Luke was saved and quickly became the perfect support for our daughter. My wife and I met Luke on visits and he captured our hearts; why would someone, anyone return this precious little boy.

Our daughter got an opportunity to move to Seattle and began preparing for the trip across the country. Luke had stayed with us, during that preparation and had fit in so well with our other three dogs that we convinced our daughter to leave Luke with us so that she could rescue another dog in Seattle. That was 2016. Luke joined Sam, Jake, and Lucky and quickly became part of our little crew of boys. It was quite a sight to see my wife and I try to go on walks with all these boys.

Luke was a fighter and we did not realize just how much until we discovered he had kidney stones requiring surgery, a skin infection requiring meds and ointments. He just went to the vets, enduring the poking, prodding, and medicines with a skeptical look but a tail wag and calm compliance.

When one of our four boys, Lucky, who had been ailing, left us Luke helped Jake and Sam fill the gap. Then we got another fourth Harley from a friend who was heading to Puerto Rico. Harley was Luke's size and was also a dog who was comfortable in the background. They started hanging out together, go out at the same time, riding in the car next to each other, getting their leashes tangled up together on walks. I started to call them Pete and Repeat. Again we had four boys. We moved in with our local daughter who had three dogs so for a period of six months we had a household of 7 doggies. Luke and his buddy Harley dominated the background.

When we moved into our new house in February of 2020 we had our four boys. In August we lost Jake and were down to three. In November Luke had a seizure and we knew something was wrong but he was a fighter. He had another one in December and we were worried but we also could see that Sam was fading. Sam left us in December. We were tired of 2020. Luke had been on anti-seizure medicine but had more seizures in January and February and we thought we were going to lose him then. However, I developed a cocktail and schedule to combat his seizures and we got him a crate to protect him from the after-seizure chaos. With Luke's help and fight, things calmed down. We were concentrating on Luke. He was no longer in the background. He was front and center. Yes, he was still close to his buddy Harley but for my wife and me, we had to make sure Luke was on his schedule and comfortable.
For two months Luke got up in the morning excited to get his breakfast, go outside in the back yard and wander through the snow or, as spring arrived, the grass sniffing and exploring and enjoying the sunny days and then scurrying back in for a nap in his crate on his special blanket and bed. At dinner, he would rush to see us wagging his tail, shaking his head, and giving us a little whine to hurry up. For all his meals, I would crush pills and mix special dinners/snacks. It was a wonderful routine/process and we revolved our day around his schedule.

After dinner, we would get worried about seizures which normally happen in the evening. Luke would settle down in his crate and I would move it close and listen to him while I lay in bed. I knew if he could get to midnight without a seizure he was good to go. He was good to go for two months. However on Sunday, April 11 Luke suffered a seizure starting at 10:30 pm, after two months he could not get to midnight. That seizure lasted and Luke never came out of it. We were broken-hearted and tried hard to help him come back to us, but he was gone. Our third doggie in eight months had left us. A year ago we had four and today we only have our precious little Harley.

This is a hole that will never heal, but the memories of the times we had with our boys will fill our hearts with warmth and our eyes with tears. We were so proud of Luke's fighting spirit and blessed to give Luke that time of center stage and he was so happy.

So Luke is off to reconnect with Lucky, Jake, and Sam. As we now put Harley on center stage.

God Bless you and thank you Luke. Say hi and give hugs to all our boys, our precious boys.

Hey Lukey It has been two years and I can not imagine it has been this long. Your buddy Harley keeps kicking, every so often I think he looks for you. I know that he missed you terribly for weeks after you left. We all miss you. As you know MacKenzie just joined you and I hope you can reconnect with her. You know I keep that Christmas candle lit to remember you, Jake and Sam and I will keep it lit. You were such an important part of our lives from helping Jess to helping us and being here after Jake and Sam left. It was so sad that left less than four months after Sam. Well when you come back try to look us up but who knows we may join you first. Nevertheless be happy. Love Dad

Hey Luke my God has it been three years? Well as you know your buddy Harley joined you last December and that also broke our hearts but we knew that Harley was going to be warmly welcomed by you. We think of you often because of your sweetness and also your fight those last months. I look at the video of you trudging around the snow and I am so proud of you and miss you so. Please take care and say hi to Harley, Sam, Jake, Lucky and all the rest. We love and miss you Dad

Please also visit Jake, Lucky and Sam (Samwise).