January 18, 2001 - April 13, 2009

It is a very sad day at the Schaefer household. Today we had to put down our little man, Rudy. I truly feel like a part of the family is missing. I fell in love with that 80lb pit bull the minute I met him, and if you know anything about me, you know that's pretty miraculous. I hate dogs, but I love and adore my Rudy.

It came pretty unexpectedly. He hadn't been acting like himself since Saturday night. Matt took him into the vet today and called me at the beginning of 7th hour at school (the last class of the day). Luckily, I have a co-teacher that hour, so I was able to leave right away, go pick up Sophie, and head to the animal hospital. On the way there, we talked about our options and agreed, with many tears involved, that it was Rudy's time to go. There wasn't much else we could do...or afford to do. Even if we could keep him alive, it was only a matter of time before he could get worse. I was glad to be able to hold him and sit with him one more time. He had been non-responsive all day, and Matt said that when he heard my voice in the waiting room asking where to find them, he lifted up his head and started wagging his tail. That pooch sure did have a big heart, and man-oh-man was he loyal. We're going to miss him so much.