Gwen
Gwen left us last Friday. She celebrated her 14th birthday on March 22. She'd been having a pretty bad time of it with arthritis and her walks were becoming shorter and shorter. We think it's likely that other things were starting to fail on her besides the mobility issues. Last Thursday night she couldn't get up and her front and back legs wouldn't sustain her. We spent most of last Friday keeping her comfortable and giving her lots of favorite treats. And then it was time to say good-bye. We can't begin to tell you how much love and joy those two dales gave us - but then, you know already. They were the epitome of everything that's great in the world and we feel so fortunate and blessed to have shared six years with Gwen and two plus years with Monty. Thank you for bringing them into our lives

Sadie
December 29, 2013. Sadie was placed by NWATR in 2009 with a wonderful family in Oregon after being a stray in the Riverside area of Washington State. We all are better for knowing this sweet girl and she will be sorely missed.

Harry
June 6, 2001 - December 26, 2013.Harry had to leave his original home in Portland many years ago to be rehomed by NWATR to beautiful Whidbey Island. Harry never looked back because he couldn't have asked for a better home with a large country style fenced yard and a new mom and dad who loved him dearly. Harry's mom writes " Jann- I'm sure you will remember this handsome guy. He was the delight of our lives, always accompanying us wherever we went. He was the Airedale wherever I was, that's where Harry wanted to be and it made my life better. I'm sorry to let you know that Harry passed away the day after Christmas. He died surrounded by those who cared for him. We miss him - he is irreplaceable. Thank you so much for bringing him into our lives."

Sophie
March 9, 2005 - July 11, 2013 Dearest Sweetest Sophie, we hope you are heaven's newest Greeter at the Gate since yours is the first face we wish to see. All of our love, Mom and Dad

Grommy
All we had to do was to drive to Eastern Washington to pick up a stray Airedale to bring him to Seattle. We had an option to keep him or pass him on to the NWAR for adoption. Right, like that was ever going to happen. He was ours from the moment his foster family brought him out of the truck. I squatted down to be on his level and we bumped foreheads. Who sticks their face in a strange dog’s face? Not a typical thing for me, but it just happened and became “our thing” that we repeated again and again to express our affection for each other. His foster name Louis didn’t fit, so he became Gromit (Grommy) - after the center character of Wallace and Gromit cartoon. He had a huge bold spot on his hip, a scab, a result of who knows what. We wish we knew because that could have explained and helped with treatments of his many illnesses, but he wasn’t talking. Well, he was talking plenty when he found the need. He never directly engaged in other dog’s horseplay, but he loved to stand in the middle of a commotion and bark: “that’s disorderly!.” On walks, he’d stand in a donkey stance and with his head defiantly down look up at us: “that’s OK, I’ll WAIT until you figure out that this is NOT the direction we are going to go”. He had plenty to say when we came home after venturing out without him, which wasn’t all that often as we took him with us everywhere, even to friend’s parties when our internal sense of courtesy told us otherwise. He was our family and we only cared to go where he was welcome. Dealerships had to let him test drive the cars that were purchased with him in mind and when we moved to California, the house we chose had to fit his needs. He smiled when we came to the off-leash dog beach park for the first time, but never warmed up to ocean waves: too unpredictable and those who want to jump in are just silly. He liked to observe. On his last day he asked to go on a drive. Not a walk, he wouldn’t step out the door that was opened for him. Instead he turned around, went into the garage and stood patiently by the back of the car where seats where permanently folded just for him. “I’ll WAIT until you figure out that we are going on a DRIVE, not a walk”. So, we did. We drove up and down the coast for three hours. The day was gorgeous and the waves as picturesque as ever, speckled with wake boarders and surfers. We had our windows down and felt happy. Then we relaxed at the house, it was a Saturday after all, a perfect day topped with dinner that was gobbled up with a huge appetite. Two hours later he was gone. Nothing too unexpected as he’s been having frequent choking episodes for the last month, but still shocking. Yes, rainbow, yes the feeling of peace, but also shock and futile attempts to make sense to find peace in our mind as we had in our hearts. Today we went on a walk to all his favorite places and could walk much faster that he could lately, but kept feeling that he’s raced ahead to his beloved park and knows that we’ll catch up and join him in his chase after silly rabbits.