Rest in Peace Roxie (2002 - 2014)

A good dog is the soul of a happy family.

We adopted Roxie when she was twelve weeks old. She came from a kill shelter in the South and the moment we saw her on Petfinder, we knew we had our girl.

Laura and I picked her up and there was some confusion over which dog was ours. The dog we had seen in the photos was the one we were playing with, but another couple was adamant that it was the one they were adopting. Being who we are, we said ok we'll take the other one than.

The whole way home she sat in Laura's lap and licked the condensation off her window. She was so happy and we couldn't wait to surprise the kids with her.

Names had been thrown around the whole way down, but we knew that it wouldn't click until we met her. On the way home Laura suggested Roxie and we knew we had the name.

Emily was one and Dylan three. Today is the first day they'll remember life without her.

We always knew that we wanted our children to grow up with a dog. They both loved her so much and Roxie loved them back.

Roxie and I had a special bond.

She'd lay in my office during the day and I'd try to take her out for walks, play and rucks as often as possible. Even as she got older and I knew they'd be shorter, she was so happy being outside and with her family.

She never wanted to play fetch and wasn't much of a fan of water. The only two things I would have changed about her and yet as I think about it, I'm ok with it because it made her who she was.

She did love cuddling with soft things. If there was a pillow or blanket on the floor, she'd curl up with it. During the winter we'd often give her a blanket even though we knew she didn't need it, she loved it.

Roxie loved her family. She never let us go anywhere without being near us.

Getting up this morning and not seeing her laying there waiting for me was heart breaking.

She would always be there and I'd always give her a head scratch, belly rub and a "good morning girl."

I slept on the floor next to her the last night. We knew something was wrong and I told her that if she needed to leave us in the night it was ok. She wouldn't even give me a kiss as she had done every day of her life so I knew something was very wrong.

I took this photo yesterday morning when I woke up next to her. Truthfully, I didn't think it would be the last photo of her, but maybe some part of me worried it might be.

I was looking into her eyes and holding her head when she died. Emily was rubbing her back. She went peacefully and I gave her one final kiss and scratch of the ears and told her a few parting words.

My heart aches hard today.

I lost a best friend. We lost a family member.

Roxie, you will be missed.