Dog of the Month - Koda
This summer I was honored to meet and photograph this beautiful boy Koda, along with his mom and her fiance. His mom Laura contacted me because Koda had limited time left and she wanted some professional photographs to remember him by. We met up at Chautauqua Park in Boulder and had a portrait session filled with laughs, fun, high-tech ball catching skills, and the joy of Koda. A few months after Koda passed I asked Laura to write a summary about Koda for my blog. Here is their story:
“It is impossible to truly summarize what Koda meant to me and to those closest to me, but hopefully I can do him the justice he deserves.
Koda came into my life in the summer of 2015 as a ringworm-ridden shelter puppy. He had been born in the shelter but his mom died and he was bottle fed along with his siblings. I fostered him with every intention to foster fail but instead of waiting the two weeks I had planned, it took exactly the 32 minute drive home to realize I had my new best friend. He was around 9 weeks old at the time.
He was always a sensitive, sweet dog. He refused to sleep with me for the first few months, despite being offered my bed and a dog bed, he chose to sleep in the closet. In fact, I knew he was comfortable the first night he did climb into bed with me.
As I went through the many challenges that most 20 something year olds face, I found myself increasingly alone except for the company of my sweet shadow. We would go on car rides and share chicken nuggets. Playing ball in empty soccer or baseball fields around the county. He would stick his head out the window as I sang to the radio along the backroads. Of course we also discovered our love for hiking.
When we moved to Colorado in 2016 we started tackling hikes and 14ers. He and I completed Mt. Blue Sky, Grays & Torrey’s, Mt. Bierstadt, and Quandary peak together. Over the 9 years we spent side by side we hiked over 200 miles. Through it all he was always there to love me and be happy in my company. It is something I am still trying to go on without.
In 2020 he had his first grand mal seizure in the middle of the night. We had just been hiking and camping that weekend and he had been totally fine. I had been working as a vet tech for years at that point, but seeing your pup have a seizure is something that shocks. We waited to see if he’d have more, as all his lab work was normal. He did have more, and so we started on meds. While we were able to stretch out for months at a time without a seizure, in the fall of 2023, things started to get worse. Still, he always wanted to play ball and go for walks. This past spring, his spark dimmed noticeably after one particularly bad night of seizures, and we planned one last trip for him. At the end of June, we drove to Bridger-Teton National Forest and set up camp for a week. He had his own private river-fed pool to soak in and lots of things to smell. I am so happy to have had that week with him.
July 8, 2024, Koda, nicknamed “Bear”, and loved by many, left this realm at home with me, his cats, my fiancé, and one really wonderful veterinarian. My fiancé and I hiked up to a gulch to spread his ashes where we used to hike, and that gave me some peace. Koda saw me through my loneliest days. We miss you and love you so much. Oh, but how lucky we were to be loved by you.
-Laura”
See more photos below:
