Det. Eng. Weekly #97 - Goodbye, my friend

A commemoration post for my dog

~ I’m taking time off until after New Years. No newsletter until Jan 8 ~

Hey all,

This is not an easy post to write. It has nothing to do with tech or security. It has everything to do with a very special member of my family and the mascot dog of the logo you see for this newsletter: Pasha

New England ocean beach. He loved the ocean so much and chased birds and frisbees for hours

I’m normally a private person. It’s kind of what happens to people like me growing up on the internet, getting into security and becoming generally apathetic about social media. But, I’m hurting a lot. I’ve had Pasha since he was 8 weeks old, and as of yesterday he was 8.5 years old.

It can take months for a German Shepherd puppy’s ears to stand up. You get cute pictures when one decides to go up and one stays floppy :)

But that is no longer. He suddenly fell ill last Saturday, stopped eating, became anemic and could barely walk. I got the worst news by phone from the vet: cancer, a ruptured internal organ and massive blood loss in his abdomen. We made the hard decision to euthanize him to save him from pain and suffering.

I thought I’d predict this day and be prepared, like many of us in the field. Perhaps I could give him the best day ever full of ocean romps and a steak. But boom, he’s gone.

Ever see a dog try to sleep in the snow?

So, I’m sad, but I’m also so grateful and proud to have raised my partner in crime. For those who’ve owned working line breeds, they are a handful but are so rewarding. Dangerously smart, mischievous and this particular guy was a velcro dog: he would never let me or my family out of his sight.

Au revoir my friend, this post is for you, I wanted to let everyone who reads this know how much we love you and miss you already.

One of my favorite pictures of us