Thank you so much for all the love, warmth and compassion you're flooding us with. The grief is just ours, not Jagger's. Leaving his earthly body was certainly a relief for him.

Earlier this year we didn't think he would make it through another summer, but he must have felt the change coming - us moving to our farm, because he worked up a 3rd, or should I say a 4th wind.

Jagger hated car rides all his life, no matter how much we bribed him:-)

Noah was driving the dogs from the old place to the farm and he said that Jagger was fine the entire ride. Once he lifted him out of the truck, Jagger started walking the entire fenced off part of the property, which is some 5 acres in total. He would do so almost every single day since, including yesterday, when he made one last big round and checked on everything.

Watching him walk was painful for us (and surely painful for him), as his hind legs were very stiff and in recent days his front legs really started giving him problems as well. But he kept walking, checking the land and making sure all was well.

Once he laid down in the house, getting up again was very challenging and he needed help a lot of times.
We decided to help him cross over before he got even worse. It feels like this way he left with joy in his heart.

It's impossible to have known a truer friend - Jagger was honest every single day of his life.

A very experienced dog trainer once gave him a very appropriate nickname: The stubborn mule.

Boy, was he stubborn. We tried to crate train him very early on, and mind you, it was a big crate.
No amount of treats would help, so we started putting his food bowl in there and just kept it open.

He wouldn't eat for a few days, that's how stubborn he was. And he won:-) We ended up giving him his food and he never spent a day in a crate (other than during the transatlantic flight).

Jagger was an extraordinary therapy dog. He would go to work with Kristin every day and sit next to her coaching clients, always there for comfort, quiet confirmation or a loud sigh at the right time that made everyone laugh and the clients realize something about themselves.

With his quiet and calm stoicism, he conquered the hearts of quite a few people who usually have zero connection to animals.

Jagger never met a child he didn't like and he would spend hours just standing there, letting children pet him and feel safe around a being that was bigger and stronger than themselves.

He was a free spirit and took off more times than I can count - not to run away, just to follow his bliss until it was time to come back home.

We don't really hear from dogs after an NDE, so I'm not sure what happens, but Jagger was definitely a human in a dog's body, so yesterday we told him that he could go home, the real home, beyond any tricks, games, reincarnation and earth bound karma.

Ultimately, as always, the choice was his.