Riley was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer on 1/21/08 and it had already spread to his pelvis. He had just turned six and we were told there was nothing that could be done because of the location of the prostate on a dog. Riley was also diagnosed with a thyroid condition at the same time and after getting the thyroid meds, he was a whole different dog. 

For three weeks, he seemed to be getting better, was his old self, playing and thankfully I had the camera and video at hand at all times. Riley loved to sing the "squeaky bone blues". He would pick up his bone and walk around the house and just sing with the bone in his mouth. When he was doing that, we knew he was happy. My daughter was away at college when he was diagnosed with the cancer and we did not want to tell her over the phone. Our daughter came home on Friday, 2/8/08 and as I was driving her home, I explained to her that he was doing great, playing, happy and that when she saw him she would be pleased at how well he was doing. 

When my daughter and I walked in the door, we tried to feed him and he refused his food and was just happy to see her. After spending a few minutes with him, my daughter went upstairs to take a shower, I brought Riley outside and he collapsed on the ground. It was like he was waiting for her to come home. We brought him to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital where they did some blood work and told us he was extremely anemic and dehydrated. We had 2 options, they could hydrate him and we could bring him home or he could stay the night. He looked like he was in pain so after much discussion my husband and I decided he would be better off being taken care of at the hospital. We got a call the next day that he was fine all night but when they tried to get him up, he collapsed. He had sepsis and it was either emergency surgery or he'd die. 

We had to make the painful decision to put him thru the surgery and not knowing the outcome especially with the cancer of just put him out of his misery. The Dr. said he was very sick. We drove to the hospital, had our last visit with him and stayed while they put him to sleep. Riley had so much personality and brought us so much joy during the short 6 years we had with him. If we didn't have our other 2 dogs, don't know what we would have done, we look to them for comfort in this very difficult time.