Goodbye to Bandit

Bandit in VA 1994

eating a popsicle

Bandit at the farm

Bandit in VA

Bandit and Stubbs

We had to put Bandit down on Saturday since she is 15 yrs old and has had some rough couple of months.  We knew it was time but I didn't want to think it was time for her to go.  She was out in the middle of the yard getting rained on and couldn't get up to come to the patio.  

I remember coming home from work when we lived in Virginia and Ed saying he had found a lady with Australian Shepherd puppies and wanted to go get one.  We went and picked the one that wasn't in the pack.  She was so cute!  We named her Bandit because she would take our socks and other things under the bed and hide them.  She loved riding in the Jeep and freaked out when a hurricane was kicking up the waves and Ed was out trying to surf.  She knew she needed to make sure he was okay.

She had a short stay out at the farm where she got in trouble for chasing the goats and stuff.  So she ended up going to quarantine out in Hawaii and then got freed to live with us in Ewa Beach.

After a few years there we moved back to Austin and she had a long 7 hour flight to another new home.

She loved Mackenzie from the start and always slept by her cradle or bed.  When we moved to this house it seemed she took a liking to Sean and his room.   We will miss her very much!

Ryan said "she's not in doggie heaven she's outside."  So it might be a while for him to understand the whole doggie heaven thing.

**Ryan looked out the window today and said "where did Bandit go?" and I said "doggie heaven" and he said "we have to go get her from there and bring her here"  So sweet!

A revisit of Vestibular Disease

So we had a little revisit with Vestibular this week.  Bandit started with the head tilted, the twitchy eyes and the not walking straight.  She seems to be doing a little better over time but we are still having to carry her down the stairs so she doesn't fall down them.  

Our sweet old dog

Bandit went in for surgery on Friday to remove several growths that were of some concern. One on her belly has grown over the years so it was best to have it removed. She also got her nails trimmed back and her teeth cleaned. She did really good and seems to be recovering nicely. She has to wear the collar(in the picture) for about a week until the stitches are out and she's not wanting to chew at them.