YUKON
Feb 4th, 1995 - Feb 1st, 2006
This page is a dedication to our wonderful, always happy, continuously smiling Yellow Lab, Yukon. It's more for me than anyone else - so I can look back at photos and videos anytime I want. (photo taken January 7th, 2006 - Yukon at almost 11years old)
February 1st, 2006 - the worst day ever
Yukon died suddenly this morning. He appeared to be 100% healthy yesterday. I let him out, and when he came back in he stumbled and seemed incoherent. He couldn't stand up and didn't want to eat anything. We were getting ready to take him to the emergency vet when there was a small yelp - his tongue was hanging out and his eyes rolled back. We started to panic and were crying. I carried him downstairs getting ready to put him in the car. I layed him on the floor and he was gasping for breath. We were hugging him and petting his head and crying and crying saying "no Yuki, please Yuki, we love you Yuki, we love you". He died about 5 minutes later - we were holding him in our arms. The whole thing occurred within an hour.
We layed with him for I don't know how long - just crying and petting him
and telling him that we loved him. Finally we carefully put him in the car
and took him to the emergency vet where we had to make arrangements. We carried
him into one of the rooms and laid him on a blanket on the floor. We layed
with him some more - just crying and talking to him and petting him. We eventually
said our final good byes. It was the worst day ever.
The vet thinks it could have been a neurological problem, stroke or something like that. Last weekend he tried to stand up at one point and tipped over, was groggy, and kind of spooked. We thought maybe just his legs had fallen asleep or something like that - as he appeared fine one minute later. Now I think it was a small pre-cursror.
Ellen and I are absolutely devastated. It won't be easy when Ellis goes, but
at least we feel like we know it's coming. Yukon was as fit, strong and healthy
as a horse and still acted like a puppy. He would have been eleven years old
on Saturday, February 4th, 2006.
We are still in shock - I can't even believe it. I'm not sure how we'll get by without 'the Head' in our house - and we're very worried about how Ellis will react once he realizes that Yuki won't be coming back.
Yukon brought more joy to our lives than anyone could ever understand and we are thankful for the time we had with him. He had a good life and made ours better. We'll miss him every day.
| The first picture I ever took of Yukon (June 1995)
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The last picture of Yukon (January 15th, 2006)
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"The Boys"
I picked up Yukon on a Tuesday. Ellis was excited to see a little puppy. The next day Ellis wasn't sure what the puppy was still doing hanging around. By the third day Ellis' nose was a bit out of joint. By about the 4th day Ellis realized Yukon was here to stay and 'the boys' were inseparable ever since. (see all photos of the boys together)
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The Family
Here are some 'family pictures' - more here
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Swimming
Yukon was the only lab I've ever met that didn't like the water. It was hilarious - he could barely swim. This is the very first time I made him swim
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He could barely keep his head out of the water - so funny. Here is a short video of Yukon not really loving the water. (video)
Media
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I put this together quickly the day Yuki died - I think it was a bit therapeutic. The song is called 'Waves' by the Devlins.
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I also made this quick slideshow the day Yukon died. The music is 'Season' by Chris Cornell |
I have many many pictures of the boys. A total of over 600 including Yukon - including prints, slides and digital. I spent quite some time scanning in all my old prints so I could have them all in digital format. I love them all, but here are some of my favorites. (Favorite Photos) |
Videos see a video featuring Yukon - the only Lab who doesn't like water (vid) see an old video of Ellis and Yukon playing (vid) see a video of Ellis and Yukon opening their Christmas presents (vid)
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Thoughts & Memories of Yukon
I made this list within a few days of Yukon's death. I wanted to write down a bunch of things while they were fresh in my mind so that I would always remember Yukon, and what I would miss about him. This really is quite personal and mainly for me. (thoughts & memories of Yukon)
Yukon Memorial Tree
A few days after Yuki died, some of our great friends wrote us a card, and decided that they wanted to plant a tree in our yard to honor Yukon's life and to remember him forever. Go here for more.
Yukon Book
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I had been trying to make a scrapbook about Yukon for almost a year - but it was just too hard. Finally I put a deadline on myself to have it complete before the one year anniversary of his death. I switched gears and ended up making a book about Yukon's life with us. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The website I used and book can be seen here. |
Yukon & Ellis Together Again
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On February 22nd, 2007, we helped Yukon's "brother" Ellis "move along" after 15 1/2 amazing years. The boys are now together again with Ellis diving for rocks and Yukon being used as a pillow. You can see Ellis' memorial page here.