In memory of Shasta

Shasta was my first dog. She was a wonderful Lab Mix. She was incredibly mellow but loved to go for her walks.

At the age of 9 we lost her to cancer. It was fast and lethal. She started losing weight and we took her to the vet. They ran a myriad of blood tests with nothing coming back out of the ordinary. About 2 weeks after that we felt the tumor. It was a large mass in her stomach. The vet said that we could try to remove the tumor but there was evidence the cancer had spread. He told us we had 2 months with her and to enjoy our time.
2 weeks later we lost Shasta. She passed away around midnight as we rushed her to the emergency vet. My mom and I spent the rest of the night talking and re-telling our favorite memories.
A year to the day after we lost her, we adopted Sophie. She was so different from Shasta that we joked that Sophie was Shasta’s little joke and gift to us. Sophie’s registered name is Shasta’s Funny Wisdom (Sophie means wisdom in greek).
In honor of my Shasta, I will be buying this collar from Dublin Dog Co. for Sophie and my sister’s puppy. 30% of the proceeds from sales of collars in the Courage Collection will go to the Chase Away K9 Cancer Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Dublin Dog Company.