Ranger

We have sad news… our Alumnus Ranger passed away peacefully at home with his family by his side.  He was adopted in 2020 at 9.5 years old. His foster mom Julie, in TN, agreed to foster him and because of her generosity, Ranger was rescued from living in an outdoor kennel his entire life, and was able to enjoy indoor living complete with endless love. 
Ranger’s mom Allie said, "Ranger found us at the most perfect time to become the center of our lives: it was the beginning of the COVID pandemic, we both worked from home, and we didn’t have kids. He immediately became the center of our entire world. We took him everywhere we could including breakfast, breweries, beach trips, mountain trips, and to all of our friends and families and houses with a backyard. Our normal weekend routine was to go on a long walk in a park or on a trail and then take him to breakfast. At restaurants, he wasn’t the best at sitting still (like most pointers) but was happy to be around us and knew he’d get his plate of eggs. And of course, he always got so many compliments because he was such a handsome boy. 
 
Walking was his absolute favorite activity. He was in such great health his whole life and there really was no limit to how far he wanted to walk. We went on long walks every morning and every afternoon of every single day he was with us, no matter the weather. We now have an extensive collection of waterproof walking clothes, thanks to him. I’m sure our neighbors thought we were crazy, but Ranger wouldn’t miss a walk for anything.
 
We frequently took him to our family house on Harkers Island which was his favorite place in the whole world. When we would arrive at the house at night, he would be too excited to sleep and would try to wake everyone up before sunrise. The island had all of his favorite things including birds, lizards, crabs, fish, walking trails, golf cart rides, and getting to lick the inside of an oyster shell when we cooked oysters.
 
Ranger remained a happy, active dog for his entire life with us. Over the last 2 years, he had several hemangiosarcomas removed. He quickly made a full recovery from each surgery. Despite their removal, and clean margins, we knew that the cancer had likely metastasized and would eventually become inoperable. His last couple of months, he remained in good spirits, but was starting to slow down, and we could tell his time was close. He passed peacefully in his favorite spot on the couch surrounded by his favorite people.
 
It’s taken us almost a month since his passing to write this memorial as it was just too painful. His passing left a hole in our hearts that will never be fully healed. Despite our pain, we are incredibly thankful for the time we had with him, and the new life we were able to give him. He was our first dog, our best friend, and will never be forgotten. We love you forever Ranger.
 
We cannot thank the organization and Julie enough for giving us the opportunity to love Ranger and give him the best life we could.”  Thank you, Josh and Allie 
 
“You will always be my favorite hello and hardest goodbye.”   Cecelia Ahern