Tuesday evening, we were outside working on the house. Frank, our dog, was running through the woods chasing rabbits and squirrels, as usual. Every now and then he’d breeze through, jump on our legs, then he was off again.

As we were unloading some boards, we heard his bark change to a whiney yip, and he came limping out of the woods. He had a small bloody spot on his shoulder and the paw of that same leg was dangling like it was broken. The way he runs and leaps through the woods, we assumed he got caught in an old fence or something and broke his foot.

We called the vet and he told us what to do and the signs to watch for. After fifteen minutes of a low whine, his breathing changed, and he went in and out of consciousness. David loaded him in the truck and met the vet up town.

The vet took one look at him and said, “Snake bite.”

As he was examined, the bloody spot was soon identified as a fang hole from a very large rattlesnake. The other fang missed his body only leaving the one hole. His foot was affected by the venom that entered at the top of his leg.

Frank was treated with antivenom but because the bite was so close to his heart and the fact he was a smaller dog, he didn’t have a great chance of survival. David left him at the vet whining in pain and the little guy didn’t make it through the night.

We have replayed the events of the evening and wondered if there was anything we could have done differently. What if we had taken him straight to the vet? What if we had changed the order of events? What if…? These what ifs have haunted us.

What we have realized, though, is that little, brown ball of energy was at the center of almost every part of our day. He went to work with David and rode on his machinery with him. When we were outside working or playing, he was right there in the middle of it. Evenings involved Frank leaping from chair to chair, chasing his ball through the house, or snuggling with one of the boys.

He entered our life in the middle of 2020, during quarantine, cancer treatments, and lots of hard. Frank brought so much life to our sad world and I’m beyond grateful for the time we had with our little guy. I don’t know why he had to leave so early, but as anyone with pets knows, these little fur babies become part of the family and losing them is very difficult.

It’s been a sad week learning to do life without Frank underfoot, but it’s also been sweet as we’ve relived the fun moments we had together.

I’m thankful God gives us pets to love. These little furry creatures are good company and sweet companions on this journey of life, and they are definitely more than just animals. They steal our hearts, become a part of our normal, and when suddenly gone, we recognize what a special role they played.

Hug on those furry creatures a little more today and thank God for their companionship. Just like with the rest of life, we never know when things could change.