07/27/2025
Cole's last day with us. Wednesday July 23rd 2025. This day was one of the most painful days and one of the most strange days as far as losing Cole. We adopted him in march of 2011 as a one year old Wolf dog that had been in 4 different homes before we were blessed to find him. Our old boy Beau had helped us with hundreds of dogs in his career and it was his time to retire and live our the rest of his life with his buddies and his new friend Cole. We picked Cole up in Grants Pass Oregon from a adoption event for a local Wolf dog rescue( thank you Kim Kahl) for not giving up on us to adopt him. To those who knew Cole and his personality knew he had a gentle way with every dog he met, children loved Cole and the adults in his life were amazed by his ability to calm them down and their dogs. Cole was the ultimate neutral dog when it came to helping other dogs in need. Cole was what some call and Easy dog, we could take him anywhere, anyplace, we did not have to worry about other dogs unless the other dogs were not friendly which in that case we left immediately. in all the years and all the dogs he worked with and all of the dogs we adopted into our home he never was in a fight, only showed his teeth when needed and avoided confrontation at all cost.
Cole spent years at the Redmond fairgrounds, the Redmond cemetery, and other locations helping other dogs. His adventures included the beach which he loved, He went camping and did a day trip to the painted hills out of John day. He spent time on the rouge river camping with other dogs and new friends. He absouloutely loved to swim and especially loved the river trail; in Bend. Years ago he met a dog buddy named Shatten who was one of our Battle Buddies dog. Shatten is a beautiful Black German Shepherd and his dad Dax and I went with Cole in the middle of winter on the Deschutes river for a pretty long hike and a cold swim.
Cole in his older years was a fixture at our business helping with class orientations and met hundreds of people and was an amazing ambassador for Wolf Dogs and how gifted they are at learning new things. Cole graduated with my wife Pam in one of our manners classes and went on to try his nose at nose work which he thought was boring. He found what he was asked to find butt then quietly just said " this is not for me" we never pushed it on him after that. Cole was also spotted at our manners graduation classes at Lowe's as a distraction dog in the store. As usual he was amazing at that job as well. I could go on for ever as far as what this regal giant was to our business but it was his companionship to Pam and I and all of his brothers and sisters he grew up with. His life was shared with Snickers, Joey, Pawsey, Arya, Flash, Meika, Dakota, Tawney, Beau, Jackson his brother, He is with all of them now in heaven where I know he is healthy, happy and with is best friends. He also had a lot of human friends, like our pet sitter the late Paulette Harris, Deb our newest pet sitter, Nicole Wilde, Author his girlfriend and her husband CC, Mike and Marty who were his first pet sitters. He is with Mike now in heaven and all of the dogs friends he helped over the years and the humans who I know were grateful to Cole for his wisdom and spirit. Cole retired from helping other dogs in 2023 when we adopted Dakota and retired from our business( classes) he lived out the rest of his life on his property walking with us daily, going to the beach with Joey, and going swimming. Cole also had a great friend in Dr Danielle Nicolette Munson Huff and her staff at mountain view animal hospital in Redmond who had taken care of him since we adopted him. On the last years of his life he made a few trips to see Dr Danielle Nicolette Munson Huff and Dr Woolsey who took amazing care of him up until the very end.
Cole's last day.
I had been gone for about 9 days pet sitting and had not seen our dogs or Pam. I called everyday to check in to see how they were doing and to see if Cole was walking with Pam and the other dogs. She told me he was walking every step of their 2 mile daily walks, he was eating great and finding his treat stashes she hid for him. There was noting to worry about. Cole had been on an anti anxiety pain med to make him feel better which he really was. The day I returned home I walked Cole Tawney and Dakota for their full walk of 2 miles. He walked every step, he took his treats like he normally did so I thought all was right in the world of Cole. We got done with the walk and were preparing to go on a camping trip and were leaving Cole and Tawney with our pet sitter Deb. This is where the story gets really strange. As I was gettign our trailer ready I noticed Cole was walking a bit funny. His hind end was tilted down so I thought what happened? as a few minutes ago he was completely fine. I went to him and he went to an agility ramp I built many years ago and went underneath it which was one of his favorite spots to get in the shade and relax. He started to sit down like he was hurting so I went to him and he walked away. I told Pam that I thought there was something wrong with Cole. We knew he had arthritis in his back end but this was different. The pet sitter arrived and she was in the house with Pam talking about some new instructions. Cole went one last time into the house and actually jumped on his favorite place to sleep which as a Futon we have had for years. He used to sleep in our bedroom with us but since his friend Flash died he never went back into the bedroom. We gave Cole a pain med and asked the sitter if she notices him not improving to call us immediately as were not going far away and could be him in an hour or so.
We started the truck, the trailer was loaded and ready to go we loaded Dakota and thought we were off. The trailer was not moving, we both looked all around the wheels to see if something was stopping it from moving and could not find anything. We spent at least 15 minutes trying to figure it out when I crawled under it and looked at the trailer brake control module. The module has a cable that in case the trailer brakes away from the tow vehicle it will stop the trailer from going any further. The cable was no where to be found. There was no sign o the cable anywhere. W e had used it less than a month before to go on another trip and it was fine or we would not have made it back. I have explanation as to what happened to the cable other than we were not supposed to leave Cole. We sent our sitter away with the thought I wold go get another part, get it fixed and still go camping. I got a replacement part, got it working and went into the house and told Pam we could still salvage the trip. I checked on Cole and knew it was not meant to be. As I sat with him I saw him literally releasing from his earthly body slowly. He lifted his head up, he looked at us and the other dogs then put his head back down. This continued for about 15 minutes until he stopped lifting his head. We knew it was his time to leave his family. I called Mountain view and was told they could not get here until tomorrow. I told them he was not going to make it that long. I tried another three clinics including a couple of mobile ones and no one could come out. I got a text from mountain view saying that they could be out here in about two hours.
I told them thank you. Pam and I with Dakota and Tawney comforted Cole while he slowly left us. His breathing was starting to become labored. He lifted his head a few more times, his eyes started to lose their shine. He rested his beautiful head on my hand. I got a text from the tech saying they were close. So man y emotions were going through our heads at the thought of this beautiful boy we thought we had more time with was coming to an end. All of the walks, the trips, the sessions with other dogs, the thousands of feeding with his buddies at home, the classes he helped us with, the hundreds of dogs he met along the way, the comfort he gave us when we lost one of his dog buddies and all of the nights we spent watching movies eating popcorn. This was really happening and this chapter of the last remaining pup from the 7 wolf dogs from Pele. Cole out lived his brothers and sisters, his mom and dad and the original group we adopted him into.
Dr Danielle Nicolette Munson Huff and her Tech Cassie arrived. Cole did not even lift his head which was not his normal. He was given a pain med, then for the next 15 minutes they listened to some of Cole's life and adventures. Then it was time. Cole went very peacefully as if to say" thank you for this good death, thank you for not letting me suffer, thank you for sending me on my way to be with my dog friends and human friends he had known. Cole's life was meant to be with us, he was meant to help and to be of service to dogs and humans. He was a blessing in so many ways and we are forever thankful to have shared our lives with him.
The night before Cole passed, a video popped up on my phone out of the blue of Cole, Flash, Joey, Pawsey and Arya all howling in the living room. I showed it to Pam after I saw it and said " Cole is the only one left of these great dogs" little did we know he would be joining them all the next day.
We love you Cole and are so proud of the dog you became. You were one in a billion friends. Mom, Dad, Dakota and Tawney.
