Bentley

Bentley “The B Dog” Thompson

December 15, 2006 – September 2, 2014

Rick and I had been talking about it for months, but we just didn't know if we were ready for the responsibility of a dog.  It was April of 2007 and I was sitting at our dining room table studying for finals when my phone rang. It was my uncle Skip and as it turns out he was about to change our very boring lives. Skip tells me of this 5 month old golden retriever puppy that was in desperate need of a home. You see “Benny’s” owner had mistakenly not checked the landlord’s documentation and didn't know they couldn't have a dog more than 25 pounds in the apartment. If they couldn't find a home for Benny he was going to probably go to a shelter. My aunt Dana had said absolutely no dog at their house because their schedules just didn't mesh well for owning a dog. So my uncle had thought of us. After getting off the phone with him I was still extremely hesitant to say yes. We were just so busy, and on top of it all in just over a month and a half we were going to be gone for two weeks to get married. I look at Rick and said something like “well my uncle may have found us a dog… I told him we’d meet the dog and then decide if he would work for us”  I am pretty sure Rick gave me a look (you all have probably seen him give me this look a hundred times) and said something like “well see”

My mom and brother were supposed to go and get the dog and bring him for us to meet. I remember being told that they had gotten everything of the dog's including his food, toys, leash, and kennel. Which I had thought was silly because we didn't even know if we’d be keeping him… Then this walked into my life…

He was an uncoordinated, large pawed, big nosed love bug. He came strutting into our kitchen in Boone and it was unconditional love at first sight. We spent the next few weeks trying to get to know each other. He loved chasing his Cami (a stuffed camel) around and around my legs and back while I sat on the ground. He also loved laser lights and Tiger. He was a terrible cuddlier. I would go and let him out in the morning and try desperately to snag a few more hours of sleep by bringing him upstairs in order to have him lay with me in bed. That was a no go for many months. He couldn’t figure out why I was holding him down and covering him up with a blanket. He just wanted to chew on everything… especially my hair.

We had one very scary mishap early on in our relationship with B. Rick, B and I had been at the clinic and we were just leaving. B was in the back seat of my black GrandAm with the windows down. I remember hearing a very weird noise and looking into the side mirror. All I saw was a red golden fluff ball rolling in the street. I screamed at Rick to stop the car and threw the door open violently and ran to our little puppy who by now was sitting in the street with a look of total confusion and shock on his face. I being a wanna be Vet at the time quickly looked him over for scratches and broken bones, head trama etc… but all I saw was a look of utter disbelieve in his eyes. Needles to say from that moment on he actually sat with me in the front seat on my lap until he was too large. By that time he couldn’t squeeze himself out of the window anymore and he never tried again to jump out of a moving vehicle.

One of the best stories I have of Mr B was the night he got stuck under the bed.  Bentley had this need for sleeping with his back against something. He didn’t enjoy sleeping in open spaces, he was a dog that needed to feel the comfort of being surrounded by a structure. So in our house in Boone he would sleep with his back against the side of the bed. One night I had heard him wimpering… and whining. I remember saying “you’re fine B” but he just kept wimpering and then all of a sudden the bed moved. I couldn’t figure out how he could have moved the entire bed.. but then it happened again. I roll onto my left side and look on the floor where he had fallen asleep, but there was no B. I stared at the spot trying in my state of sleepiness to see him but there was no body of my dog just an empty space where he had been sleeping. I was about to kick Rick to wake him up when all of a sudden two frantic paws came shooting out from under the bed. I jumped out of bed and ran to the light because I couldn’t even believe my eyes. My 80 pound full grown dog and somehow squeezed himself under a 6 inch opening and now could not get back out. Rick and I had to lift the bed off the ground in order to get enough clearance for him to slink out from under it. I would say that B had learned his lesson after one episode but this happened at least three more times.. crazy dog haha.

The amount of stories I have about Bentley could fill up entire books but I don’t think I could ever write them in a way that would exude the enormous gratitude I have for that dog. He filled our lives with so much love and joy that without him on this earth there is an enormous void. He was our best friend. He was with us during our adventure to Key West. I am not sure how many dogs have the opportunity to swim in an ocean after being born in Iowa but he was one of them… and he loved to full nose dive off docks and complete head submersion to eat sea grass. Here are images of B dogs adventures in the Keys.. 

Bentley staring at birds in front of the boat

Frog xmas present he loved tearing open presents 

We always did ridiculous things to him haha 

Riding on the front of the boat on the ocean 

Who brought the old lady?

That old lady is everywhere

Mom's visit to Key West 

Ride to Key West

After Fantasy Fest with Dustin and Kali - B was always the "Hotdog"

Hated Baths

Loved sticks of any kind - he drug this in from out side 

Ready for the asteroid 

Bentley was officially diagnosed with lymphoma on December 17, 2013 two days after his 7^th birthday. Myschelle our technician had the sheet of paper in her hand and really didn't want to show me. It was 5:50 pm and I still had a 6 o’clock appointment to get to.  Reading those words was like having a knife shoved into my heart. How could our dog.. my dog have cancer.. why why it just wasn't fair. He was only 7.. that isn't enough time. This is wrong. They misread it. How am I supposed to tell Rick? The daughter I had growing inside my belly isn't going to get to meet the greatest dog in the world?!  Give me something that I can fix. I felt not only like I had been stabbed in the heart, but I felt worthless. This is my job - the health of animals is my job and I can't fix this. 

Over the next few days Bentley underwent testing at the clinic and at Iowa State. He came back with an overall positive bill of health.  Beyond one lymph node the cancer had not spread any where detectable. Rick and I counseled by an oncologist at ISU had to make very hard decisions. Unfortunately, being pregnant at the time put quite a damper on the overall chemo plan. Due to the grade of his lymphoma as well as our current situation we elected to wait it out and start chemo when he started to show clinical signs. Bentley would spend the next four months under my microscope. I would check is lymph node daily and monitor his eating. He had an episode of hospitalization for elevated calcium in March 2014. Then on April 3 – 10 days before Avery made her debut his platelets bottomed out. We had been trying to not start chemo before our daughter was born because of the risk but on April 3 the decision was made for us and B was started on pred. Soon after in fact exactly 10 days later he started a chemo pill.

He was a trooper through it all. He didn't seem overly upset about not being able to touch the baby as long as we still would pet him and love on him.

. About a month ago B started to show signs that the chemo and pred regiment was failing. He became very thin and over the last few weeks he began to be a picky eater and then the last few days he just was tired. He had put up an 8 month fight and lost. Cancer doesn’t fight fair.

There are many times in our lives that we may find ourselves wishing time might speed up just a little. You might hear yourself saying I can’t wait for high school, college, vacation, to get married, have kids, to have those kids not need to be held or put into diapers… or a number of other things we can’t wait for. We all need to stop, honestly. Time is kinda a bitch. It brings about so many new and exciting milestones and it also steals away moments that you will never get again. Bentley was only 7, he lived for 7 years 8 months 18 days, 7 hours and 50 minutes.  We are not guaranteed anything in this life, but I can tell you one thing about B- he didn’t wish any time away. I miss him, deeply...and these pictures will never be enough.