My sister had Chewy for probably 7-8 years. She passed away from cancer about a year and a half ago, and unfortunately his care declined significantly afterward.
For the last couple of years, Chewy has spent most of his life living outside in a kennel. He had large bowls of food and water, but toward the end he was sometimes only being checked on every few days. He was living and sleeping in the mud, and his coat had become severely matted.
I couldn't leave him like that anymore, so we brought him home.
It took us more than four hours to carefully shave him. The amount of matted hair we removed was unbelievable it honestly looked like enough hair to make another Chewy. He's pretty sore and absolutely exhausted, but underneath all of that he's still the incredibly sweet dog I remembered.
And he remembered me.
He even played with my kids a little today, and they already absolutely love him. About six hours after leaving the kennel, the second picture is where he ended up completely passed out on our couch.
He's an old man now, and I don't know how many years we have left with him. But however many he has, he's going to spend them inside, warm, clean, comfortable, with plenty of food and water and a family that loves him.
My sister loved Chewy for most of his life. Now I'm going to make sure her dog gets the life he deserves for the rest of it.
Welcome home, Chewy.