RIP Notre Chien

Notre Chien passed away this morning. He was 9 years and 7 months almost to the day (5/19/02-12/18/11). We took him to the vet on Thursday and she gave him a new steroid to try, but she did not think he would last the week. He seemed ok Friday and Saturday morning, but Saturday afternoon he started throwing up a lot and not moving. So we gave him some Pepcid AC for his stomach (vet recommended) and he seemed to feel a little better after that. He even came up to our room to go to sleep just like normal. Sunday morning Paul had to pick him up to bring him outside to potty. It was just like how you read in books when dogs go off into the woods to die...Chien just laid down in the yard and didn't want to come back inside (which is very unlike him because he hates being in the backyard by himself). Paul picked him up to get him to walk around, but he just went back further into our yard as far from the house as possible and laid back down. So Paul picked him up and brought him inside so he wasn't in the cold snow. He went to be by himself away from us (which he has been doing lately anyway) and died at some point after that. We checked on him after Church and he was gone.

Chien was the best family dog. Paul and I got Chien the weekend we got back from our honeymoon, so he started our family long before we had kids. Domi, Tim, Andrew, Hunter and I drove out to almost Iowa to a farm "just to look" at the puppies. I think we were there about a half a minute before we were each picking out which puppy we wanted to bring home. We stopped at a local store to buy different color collars so we could tell Chien and Cooper apart (although we still don't know if the one we put the collar on was the one we picked at the farm)! It has been fun to have brother dogs with Domi - and whenever they got together to play they knew they were brothers and would play differently than they did with other dogs. Chien was 7 weeks old and 7 pounds when we got him.

He often sat in our laps, which did not seem to change even after he became 70+ pounds - he still considered himself a lap dog!

He was our "baby" for almost 4 years before we had Ben.

Still pretending he is a small puppy...

He loved going to Mama Kay and PaPa's house because the lake was his most favorite place.

He would swim for hours.

And eagerly anticipate a ball being thrown into the lake so he could jump off the dock and swim to retrieve it.

Before kids, we took Chien to dog parks, dog beaches, and even our local park!

Such a pretty dog - he always got compliments.

And he loved playing in the snow too.

Then Ben was born and Chien was great with him! It took a few days for him to get used to the idea (he didn't come sleep in our room for a few nights at first), but then he fell in love with Ben just like we did.

And then he was always near Ben - especially when it was nap time...

And he quickly earned a place in Mimi's heart when she came to visit.

And he also earned a place in Nana's heart, which was not easy. Chien was the very first dog Nana had ever pet - she said he just looked so soft that she wanted to touch him!

Grand-Patch became his buddy too...

Just being part of the family.

His car space got limited when Ben came along, but he enjoyed riding next to him.

And even managed a way to sleep in the car with Ben.

They were fast friends.

And Chien quickly learned the benefits of having a baby in the family...

Chien went on many boat rides, whether the canoe or the big boat.


And always made sure to protect his family. This was a great example that I will never forget - Ben was in this tube and started to float away from the dock. Chien jumped in, swam out to the tube, grabbed the rope, and brought Ben back - all without a word from us! We actually thought Ben was ok (we were swimming in the water by him), but Chien was sure to take care of him!


Always a good sport when the kids would play with him or dress him up.

Or when we would try to make him play like he was a human...I'm pretty sure he did not enjoy going down the slide, but he was a good sport about it at least.


Abbey always gave Chien a lot of love too.


Back at the lake, staying close to his family.


Sleeping with Ben - he didn't usually sleep on Ben's bed, but every now and then Ben would invite him up there.

Our last family picture with Chien taken over Thanksgiving. A good friend of mine from high school, Kelley Peck, actually took this picture and had it made into a Christmas ornament and sent it to us, which was so meaningful to our family, especially now considering he passed before Christmas.


I can't say enough about how much Chien has meant to our family. He started our family and although with each new child he slid further down the totem pole, he never seemed to mind and always welcomed each new member with love and a desire to protect them. The kids have loved having Chien and I could not have asked for a better dog for them - he was always gentle and kind and patient - not once was I ever even slightly worried about having him around them. Some people say that dogs have no souls and therefore do not go to Heaven, but I believe that anyone who has ever had a dog knows that cannot possibly be true. I believe he is running in fields, chasing balls, and swimming all day long now. We love and miss you Chien - thank you for 9.5 wonderful years!