Tyler Passed: Part 2: Giving him the BEST Day

 In yesterday's blog, you read about how quickly cancer took our 14 1/2 year old black and tan, lovable, always-happy, protective, playful, toy-loving dachshund, Tyler.  When we woke up on Tuesday, July 29th, we knew it would be Tyler's last day, because cancer metasticized in 5 of his organs (we learned just 5 days before). So, we planned the BEST day for him.

(Photos: A collage of Tyler's favorite activities that we did on his last day, July 29, 2025)

He came to us as a rescue dog at around 1 year old, heartworm positive. We fostered him, healed him, adopted him, and he bonded with our Weimararner, Dolly, who passed in Oct 2020. Since then, Tyler was our Rock.

FAVORITE TOYS - We made sure his favorite toys were with him all day. He loved "loofa stuffed dogs" - especially a red one and yellow one. Now, Tom has the yellow one and I have the red one. 

(Photo: Tyler with his 2 most favorite toys: yellow and read "loofa dog toys")

FRESH COOKED HAMBURGER, CHICKEN and ROAST BEEF 

On Monday morning, July 28th, when we knew Tyler was failing, I cooked hamburger and chicken and got sliced roast beef in addition to the sliced turkey we always have. Tyler enjoyed his meals and he still had an appetite.

MORNING WALK / RIDE! -  We bought a wagon 2 years ago before we moved from Maryland, because Dash was getting old (he's 17 now) and doesn't walk entire distances. Since Tyler was paralyzed in his back legs, we took him for a "ride" during our walk, and Dash joined him a couple of times. 

POSING FOR WAGON PICS - Tom and I stopped to get a wagon picture with Tyler.

SITTING OUTSIDE IN THE GRASS- One of Tyler, Dash and Cody's favorite things to do is to sit outside in the backyard on the grass and watch nature. They sometimes like to look into our backyard forest, where squirrels race and birds fly in and out. So, even though it was hot, we found shade and sat outside for an hour in the morning. 

DASH AND TYLER ALWAYS TOGETHER- Dash, our 17 year old Chihuahua/Dachshund Mix, immediately bonded with Tyler 7 years ago when he came to us. They do everything together. Since Dash's vision has been failing over the last couple of years, he's always followed Tyler. He would sleep next to Tyler, and they woud eat together, do agility together and walk together. On July 29th, he walked over to Tyler who was laying on the grass (unable to move), and lay down next to him.

A DUNKIN DONUT DRIVE THROUGH LUNCH AND BARK! - Tyler loved to bark whenever we would use the drive through at Dunkin. There was never a time he didn't bark on a trip there. So, we put him on a bed, covered with a pee pad, and he and Dash sat in the back seat as we drove through Dunkin. Tyler happily barked. 

(Photo: Tyler and Dash teamed up to stick their tongues out for the picture)

A WATERFALL PARK - One of the places we like to take lunch is to a nearby park in South Berwick, with a view of a waterfall and a river. The boys love that place, so we took them there. I took Tyler out of the truck and carried him around, showing him the river and waterfall. 

(Left to right: Dash, Tyler, Cody) 

BACKYARD FOREST WALK!! - Because we have a good amount of forest in our backyard, we made 4 parallel pathways through it, to walk the dogs. The boys all enjoy walking through the forest and sniffing out all the amazing scents. 

So, we pulled out the wagon again, and took Tyler on a wagon ride through the forest (since his back legs were paralyzed).   We took Tyler and Dash out of the wagon for a Menagerie group photo with Cody, too.  

(Photo: The Wagonmasters: Dash in front, Tyler in back)

THE TREAT GAME! One of Tyler and Dash's favorite dog games is "find the treat" in a
special dog-shag rug (thanks to their aunt Cindy). So, we dropped treats in the rug and Tyler, Dash and Cody did some treat hunting! 

INDOOR COOL DOWN- We cooled Tyler off with wet washcloths, put him in a diaper and let him nap. He crashed. His breathing became shallow and it was hard to wake him. We thought he may actually pass, but in 2 hours he snapped out of it. His heart was beating like crazy during that time, too. 

DINNER TIME - More freshly cooked hamburger for dinner!   

THREE TREAT TIME - Usually at 7:30pm in our house, we have 3 treat time, where the kids line up for three different favorite treats. We had to do it early (6pm) because Tyler was going to the vet to cross over at 7:20pm. - They all loved their treats. 

SAT ON THE GRASS OUTSIDE- After dinner and three treat time, we went back outside and sat on the grass for an hour. Tyler lay on his side, and seemed exhausted. He continued to dribble pee uncontrollably, so it was good he was outside. 

DRIVING TO THE VET'S OFFICE- DASH'S LOVE- Tyler and Dash always sit in the backseats of our pickup truck (with the seats down and a thick blanket covering it). Tom was driving (with Cody), and when I looked back, Tyler had rested his face on Dash's outstretched legs for the entire ride.

(Photo: Tyler rests his head on Dash's feet in the back seat of the truck going to the vet).

(Photo: Tyler on the afternoon of July 29, 2025, sitting on a pee pad in his bed with his 2 most favorite toys.) 

FINAL GOOD BYE - Damn, this was hard. It was brutal. We cried hard. Tom and I sat on a bench in a room at the vet. Cody was on Tom's lap. Dash sat in between Tom and I. 

  Tyler laid across his favorite blanket on my lap, and his head RESTED on Dash's back. Dash never moved. Dr. Matt gave the injection and Tyler passed pretty quickly, all the while Dash never moved, allowing Tyler to continue resting his head. I was so very touched by Dash's love for his brother. 

  Tyler will be "coming home" in a cedar box with his ashes sometime next week, we assume. In the meantime, we'll give extra love to Dash and Cody, and we each have one of Tyler's favorite toys on our beds. 

   Tyler always wagged his tail. Every day. We both always said he was the happiest dog we've ever known. Now he is with Dolly, Franklin, Sprite and Buzz on the other side. We miss him so much.