Sweet Bo

These have been a rough past few days for the Geissinger Family. Our beloved puppy, Bo, died on Sunday morning after being bitten by a rattlesnake while we were hiking at the family cabin in Lycoming County this past weekend

Justin, Kristin, Bo and I were hiking up to the birch tree nearby Beaulaland. Bo was loving the mountains, as usual, romping through the creek and the open fields and scaring a flock of grouse as he went. We came around a turn and Bo was about 10 yards ahead of us and turned to run back towards us. He stopped between me and a giant rattle snake that none of us but Bo saw and before we could yell, before the snake even rattled, Bo had been bitten in the shoulder. We immediatley got him to lay down so that the venom wouldn't rush through his body any faster and Justin quickly picked him up and carried him up the trail. With the cabin in sight, Justin left me and Kristin with Bo while he ran to get the truck. He was really hurting and I just kept praying and petting him while he laid right next to me. After a minute, in true Bo fashion, he crawled into my lap while we waited. Justin and his uncle put him in the back of the truck and headed to the emergency veterinary clinic that was an hour and a half away. Kristin and I stayed behind- it was the longest afternoon ever.... Finally, after a couple of hours, they returned, but my sweet Bo had to stay behind for treatment. Initially, the prognosis was good- they were flushing his system to dilute the venom and were planning to do a blood transfusion to help his body to fight. We kept calling the vet throughout the night and they kept telling us that he was "stable, but in pain and heavily medicated". Sunday morning came and we spoke to the vet one last time before leaving the cabin and making the drive to pick up Bo and transfer him to another vet clinic in Lancaster. They gave us the same report, but apparently about an hour after we spoke with them the venom reached Bo's heart, causing him to have a massive heart attack.... we didn't find out until we were on our way to pick him when we called to tell the vet that we were about an hour away. Needless to say, I lost it.

So, these days have been really hard, particularly for me. Bo was absolutley my dog, and although some may scoff and being so emotional over a dog, those who have been there understand. He was everything that a dog should be: fiercly loyal, playful and drooly, blindly devoted, incredibly cuddly, protective and goofy all and the same time... and, despite his flaws, he was mine and I loved him... I still love him.

Sarah had to stop typing here so i'll pick up where she left off. I myself am not much of a dog person but I could handle living with Bo. I think what made living with Bo tolerable for me was his devotion to Sarah and now to Kristin. There were many days when Sarah was sick early in her pregnancy. Some of those days Sarah spent the entire day on the couch while I was at work. Sarah certainly wasn't alone however because Bo would always plop himself down with her just to keep her company. Bo was also very obedient... or at least for Sarah. I would get so frustrated by him not listening to my commands yet when Sarah asked him to do something, of course he would do it. Recently, now that we have a young daughter, Bo became very territorial. This was Bo's property and he decided to appoint himself as the sole protector. He is a very gentle and loving dog who would never hurt anyone (he would just pee on them) but he sure would growl and bark at strangers just to let them know that he's on duty. Bo will certainly be missed but I'm thankful for the good times that we were all able to share together.