Back when we had our first appointments with our current vet, I asked for a recommendation for a dog trainer for Bogie. The young man they recommended highly is now our friend as well.

Like everyone else who had met our precious boy, James fell in love with Bogie instantly. On Tuesday morning he sent me the following tribute with a request for permission to post it on his business page. At the bottom of this post I will include James’ info.

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“He never got to see the snow.

“A day short of seeing and running through it, feeling and tasting it in the wind.

“He was beautiful, and he was just beginning to see the world as all dogs do at that age. He wasn’t yet a year old.

“In just a short time, a matter of almost a couple of months, I saw him grow and his heart expand, and the potential growth both as an incredible student and a wonderful family dog.

“Our last session together we began to work with him on his leash. He was so curious and eager to see the world around him. I knew the next steps would be a milestone for him, the next session a new achievement.

“When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you can see deep into their eyes sometimes, and see a spark of light into what an incredible future is just a pawprint or two away.

“When my client messaged me, myself now a day into the snowstorm, I had to read it over and over again to understand.

“The gate was open, it happens. It happens to all dog owners sometime in their journey with their dog. Gates open, it happens.

“He ran, he ran through the gate with everything he had in him. The kind of exhilaration we only find in dreams.

“The driver never stopped. They didn’t even slow down, continuing to fly on the asphalt away from their wrongdoing, outrunning fault and forgiveness.

“Two children across the street saw what happened,, and brought his body to the driveway. A lady, a stranger, stopped in the middle of the road and held up traffic so the children could safely carry him across.

“I wish children had been part of his life’s story in so many, many other ways.

“Out of respect to the deep and open pain the family is still feeling, I can’t and won’t say his name.

“I wrote this because sometimes pain has to transmute to meaning, otherwise it just keeps eating at you.

“He was a good boy. I had only seen him the day before, and had I even a hint of the loss that would have been felt… I would have wished with all I had to give, that he could’ve had one dance in the snow.

“I will miss you, and every student after that reminds me of you, I will hold a part of you as I guide them on their journey; a journey you deserved to see so much more of than you had.

“With All, Sweet Boy❤🐶❤”

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With deepest gratitude, I now give you James’ info: James Lyon, owner of Ilio Canine Care. Check out his website at http://www.iliocaninecare.com. James also has business pages on Facebook and Instagram.