Good-bye to our best hiking buddy – Post 8 of the Boise Roommate Saga

Kai was 15 years old, lived a good life, and was well loved.

John and I first got Kai back in 2006 when we were still dating. He was the most adorable puppy!

Over the years, Kai went with John and I as we moved from Albuquerque to Livermore to Placitas, Santa Fe, and back to Albuquerque. We had many adventures, some good, some difficult. Along the way he was cared for by both my kids, my mother-in-law Monica, and my good friend, Sandy. He always adjusted well to whatever new adventure we were on.

Wherever we were, we went hiking. Kai was a fearless hiker.

Kai was also a great couch potato. If you sat on the couch, you would have a dog in your lap.

Kai quickly mastered the art of playing with balloons. He would carry them around by the end knot for days without popping them.

He always welcomed new arrivals to the family.

And quickly adjusted to the chaos of moving.

Sometimes he thought we were nuts, but he followed us wherever we went.

Look at that face! Kai always loved Christmas.

What’s up there on the counter, Kai? Is that your toy up there?

Who knows what secrets they shared.

I’m just sniffing! I would never rip presents open without permission!

Winner of the most spectacular setting for a dog butt. John, what are you thinking? Call him back from the edge!

Kai was not only a great hiking buddy, he was also a great fishing buddy.

In early 2021 Kai went to live with Callan. Callan had already adopted our other poodle, Kira, in 2020, and our third poodle, Rosie, passed away during the summer of 2020 at the estimated age of 17.

I just realized that Rosie never got her “life celebration” blog post that I promised back in 2020. I was very under the weather from the effects of chemo and only managed a brief couple of paragraphs and with photos at all. So maybe I’ll still do that one of these days. I truly appreciate the support of friends and family who cared for the dogs during my cancer recovery.

Kai had a fantastic dog’s life, but his health has been deteriorating for about a year. When we visited everyone in Boise in July, I suspected Kai wouldn’t live much longer. I let the kids know to expect it. More recently Callan had called me a few times with reports of Kai’s continued poor health and vet visits.

When I arrived in Boise in October and saw Kai, my opinion was it was time to put him down. He had mobility issues, intermittent incontinence, his breathing was labored, and he was coughing continuously.

But the roommates were very attached to Kai and treating him well. They weren’t ready to put him down, and wanted to find an apartment that allows pets. I wasn’t going to argue with them. As frustrated as we were with them, Kai had become part of their family and we didn’t want to deny them the love of an old dog. So one of the last things we did before ceasing all communication with them, was to email them Kai’s vaccination records so they could qualify for an apartment with Kai.

Unfortunately Kai didn’t quite make it long enough for one more move. It was during the time that we were in the airbnb and the roommates were still in Callan’s house that the roommates texted to let us know that they had to take Kai back to the vet again and it was time to say good-bye. We were sorry to not to be able to say that final good-bye, but we did not feel like it was worth interacting with the roommates at that point. And we already knew it was Kai’s time. So the roommates went ahead and put him down without us there.

It was a good 15 years with our adventure buddy.

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