Normy Normisson

When I met my husband, Rick, he had a one year old puppy and I had a one year old baby. I didn't know if he was a kid person, but I certainly knew that I wasn't a dog person, which maybe proves just how much I love him that I accept his lab Norman into my life just as readily as he loved my Avery. Thanks to Norman, I *think* that I am now a dog person- not really other peoples (they annoy me) but I LOVED Norman. He was a big part of this family- I couldn't imagine ever our family without him. This is maybe why saying goodbye to him was so hard.

Just a few short months ago his health started to go downhill. He had arthritis in his hips and was having a really hard time getting around, but was still happy. I started taking him for lazer therapy treatments and cortizone shots, but didn't see much improvement. Then we noticed his back paws were flipping under when he walked (called knuckling) we talked to the Vet about it and she only knew of one thing that caused this- a neuroligic disease that causes the nerve endings to die and causes paralysis. There is nothing that can be done to reverse or cure this condition, the Vet then told us to start preparing and talking to our kids about saying goodbye. Within a week the paralysis had started to work its way into his lungs, and he was struggling- he was not happy anymore and it was harder to see him like that anything else I could think of. Rick and Avery took him to be put to sleep, its been very hard to not have him here with us anymore. Here are some pictures of our sweet boy.