Never Forgotten

Loyal. Heart of Gold. Protector. Happy. Deeply loved and sadly missed. Rest peacefully sweet Coreah, job well done.

We are deeply grieving the loss of our beloved bulldog Coreah today. It was a rough weekend for her; and in part a rough winter too, so we took her to the vet again this morning and made an unbelievably hard decision to have her put down, it was not easy and not what I expected, but once again it was the right decision. I haven't stopped crying yet. Yet in my grieving I am so thankful for that dog and the additional years she gave us after we moved to the farm. We thought we were going to lose her right before we moved here, but at that time I didn't have the heart to put her down, it was Christmas time and we were moving and I just couldn't do it. I'm glad I didn't too, as once we moved here it was like a switch was flipped and she made an about face and was 'like new,' it was wonderful. We've been here for 4 years and I dare say these were the best 4 years of her life, so much room to run, so many sticks to "Buzz-saw Louie" through and oh the glorious sunshine! How she loved to shred a tree in the sunshine with her 'pack' surrounding her!

She was stubborn and made me work for pack leader position but was content to follow when I assumed that postion, yes she tested me occasionally, making sure I really wanted the position, but I do love a challenge. She was the first dog I've had and because of her I earned my first trophy in an American Bulldog show. I'll also have you know we almost took grand champion at that class but the judge said she was a couple pounds heavier than he'd like to see, but that was how he made the final determination. I was overjoyed and will remember that for the rest of my life.

Once she herded my niece back into our driveway when she wandered into the street, Coreah is not a herder by nature, but she was protective of all who were entrusted to her care and protect them she did. We had a guy walk across our porch and nearly into our home (in a drunken stooper) until Coreah prevented him from taking another step. Thank you for your protection.

Coreah was a sweet and gentle dog and looked like if she was so inclined she could rip into you but that was not the case at all, she considered herself an 85 pound lapdog. Many an evening did she like to sit with Ron in his recliner and have her belly rubbed. She'd climb up into the chair with him flip herself backwards onto his chest and grin from ear to ear while he rubbed her belly even to the discomfort of having an 85 pound dog on his chest.

It wasn't the same while cooking dinner tonight without her feet scuffing like a moody teenager to bring her nose and belly to the kitchen to sit in the exact spot I'd be in next. Harley got to lick the entire dish when Ron put it down for her and didn't have to share. In fact when we returned home with Coreah, I took her out to the car to see Coreah. She jumped into the car and sniffed her face, licked her ears then looked at me with a look I've never seen from her. She stood over her for a long time and kept looking up the driveway as if she was expecting someone to return, she looked at me again, then laid down beside her and sighed. I let her stay there until she was ready to come back inside with me. All afternoon she's paced and looked for Coreah and gone to the door and looked out, I'm not sure what she's feeling, but I know she's joining us in the grieving.

Thank you Coreah for your love, loyalty, protection and your sweet gentle giant spirit. I love you and will miss you forever. Job well done sweet sweet Beast. Rest in peace.