June 23, 1993 to August 30, 2002

In September 2002, Paige Reder sent us a tribute to her special guy, Riley.

Riley was the sweetest dog we ever knew. We rescued him from a backyard on Thanksgiving weekend in 1993. The vet determined he was about 10 months old. He had never been given a name or received any of his vaccinations, or been inside a house.

We called him Riley and gave him a birthday so that every year we could celebrate how lucky we were that he was born and was sharing his life with us. Riley loved everyone and woke up every morning with a smile on his face, so grateful to be with a family. He would give you that look that said, “Do you need anything? Can I help with anything? Just say the word and I can do it.”

Riley loved running with my husband and I and playing ball and swimming in the ocean.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I observed on July 3rd 2003 that Riley was not bearing weight on his right leg as he stood at the food bowl. Not again! The exact same observation that had taken us to the vet only months before with Clancy. It couldn’t be happening. The x-ray taken later that day indicated a “suspicious” area on the right hip. The bone scan three days later confirmed a possible cancer. The biopsy the next day shook our world again.

Riley had osteosarcoma on the right hip. Despite surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation the cancer was very aggressive and quickly spread up the spine. Riley died on August 30, 2003, four months to the day after our Clancy. Another Golden heart stopped beating.

We wrote the following short poem and had cards made with the poem and Riley’s picture to send to all the many people who worked so hard to save him:

Another Day will start without you . . . Another Sun will Set You were the Sweetest Dog we ever knew The Happiest Dog we ever met We had no idea, no way to know, How deep our bond would someday grow We’ll pick out a star when the tears leave our eyes And say “That must be our Riley, he’s roaming the skies.” He’s protecting the angels like he protected our home For all of eternity our Riley will roam.