Goodbye, Hooch

I heard from my sister today that her dog, Hooch, left them on Friday. He would have turned 15 on Easter. He was happy and active up until the end. He died in the backyard when he was making his rounds. My sister says her house seems empty without him.

I made a card for her and her husband, and one for my niece who is away at college. My niece fell in love with Hooch at the shelter, and they adopted him the day before the shelter was scheduled to put him down. Hooch had issues, due to abuse from a previous owner, but my brother-in-law worked with him, and the dog became an important part of the family. He was a funny dog, and he was very much loved.



The images for these cards are from Purrs and Pants, who make the best rubber stamps for pet sympathy. I have a couple of their cat and angel stamps, but I don't have the dog ones. So, I chose to combine some of my other stamps for this card. The cat snuggled up to the dog is one image, and the cat lying down is another. I masked the cat and dog image so that the reclining cat could be stamped as part of the group. I colored the cats black to represent my Tigger and Pooh, and I colored the dog yellow, to represent Hooch. Hooch was a yellow lab and pit bull mix. He was a neat mix of goofy and serious. Tigger and Pooh never met Hooch, but they exchanged Christmas gifts with him for years.

Inside the card, it says, "No time on earth is long enough to share with those we love or to prepare our hearts for that last good-bye. --Alarie Tennelle" It is a sentiment meant for humans, but it fits for pet loss too.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Purrs and Pants, sentiments from Rubberstamp Ave
Paper: Stampin' Up Naturals White
Ink: Palette Noir, Prismacolor pencils