Cosmo Kramer Sharp (July 3, 2005-September 8, 2010) We love you, Kramer-dog!

It is with great sadness that I write this post. Our beloved dog, Kramer, passed away last night. Our family is heartbroken. We love him so much and will miss him terribly.
Kramer was absolutely fine 48 hours ago. We spent a wonderful weekend on the Bell Family Farm, where he ran and played. Then Tuesday morning as he jumped off our bed, he let out a big yelp and acted funny the rest of the day... laying by the door, refusing to eat, etc. By Tuesday night I took him outside and he couldn't climb up the stairs.
During the night he was whimpering so badly, and I knew he was in a lot of pain. So I took him to an emergency animal hospital at 2 a.m. where they took x-rays and blood work. They thought initially that he'd just overdone it at the farm and sent us home with some pain medication.
Well, by the next day, Kramer's back legs were completely paralyzed. I took him back to the vet where they determined that he had Intervertebral Disk Disease (herniated disks) that evidently ruptured sometime in the last couple of days. We figure it was when he yelped jumping off our bed. They said the best way to treat it was with surgery, which would run into the thousands of dollars and even then it would be extremely painful and would not even guarantee that he'd ever have the use of his back legs again. Or we could give him some pain medication to see if he improved. After three hours of sobbing in the vet's office and talking it over with Mike, we determined that surgery just wasn't an option. So I took him home with a bunch of pain meds.
They didn't work. Poor Kramer spent the entire rest of the day whimpering, shaking, and staring up at me with the saddest expression on his face. By the time Mike got home last night I knew we couldn't keep him in this kind of pain any longer.
So we gathered together and Mike said a family prayer, asking for comfort for Kramer and for confirmation that this was the right thing to do. We all felt like it was. Except for Kate of course who was absolutely devastated. She cried and cried and kept saying she didn't want him to leave.
After we kissed and hugged him and said our goodbyes, Mike took him to the animal hospital. Kate and I sat and cried for a long time. She wanted to know when Kramer would feel better to come home. It was hard explaining to her that Kramer wouldn't be coming back home. We told her that Kramer was going to live with Heavenly Father and that He and Jesus would take good care of him.
So she went and found our statue of Christ and placed it next to the picture of Kramer: Then she spoke softly to Kramer, saying she was sorry and that she loved him. I don't think she knew I was listening. It was quite possibly the sweetest and saddest thing I've ever seen.
Oh, how we will miss that sweet dog!
Ironically, we got him exactly 5 years ago, this week. September 10, 2005. I needed something to "mother" and so we found this sweet little puppy in Las Vegas. We trained him to do many many things (sit, shake, dead-dog, go outside, fetch) and had so much fun doing it.
Kramer's only flaw was he would pee. All. the. time. Anytime he was excited, or happy or being petted for the first time. We called him our "cockapee" dog. But aside from that, he was such a loyal companion and always around to love on.
This picture below is from Monday, our last good day with him at the Bells. He had so much fun there!

I hesitated posting this picture of him from last night. He looks so miserable, and this is not how we want to remember him. He was in such pain, and he couldn't move his back legs. But this is the very last picture we have, so I wanted to document it.

I'd rather remember him like this. Happy, fluffy, always good around the children. Kate adored him. He was always so sweet to her, and to Dylan. In fact, after I brought him home from the vet the first time, he stumbled directly into Dylan's room and lay next to the crib all night.

Kate loved taking pictures of Kramer.

This one was in the hotel as we drove to Texas from Nevada. He was a fantastic travel companion. He always wanted to lay right across my lap. I never minded. I loved cuddling with him! He felt it was his right and duty to sleep right next to me and Mike every night. Several nights I'd wake up to feel him burrowed right in my back. It was comforting in a way. Mike would get frustrated, but secretly I think he liked it too.

Another photo of Kramer taken by Kate in our Las Vegas house. The house we brought him home to as a puppy. The house where Mike built a doggy-door and trained him to use.

My heart aches for this little guy. I know that to many people dogs are just dogs, but to me, Kramer was like my first "baby" and one of my bestest little pals.
I know that it will get better. In fact, Kate woke up this morning and said "Mom I'm not sad about Kramer anymore, because we have pictures of him, and we can talk to the pictures anytime we want." She has such a good little attitude. I need to be more like that. Maybe in a few days or weeks I will feel that way too. But for now, I'm just sad. I miss him a lot.
And I will for a long time. We have so many wonderful memories of him. And he was an important part of our family.
We love you, Kramer. I know we'll see you again someday!