Our Bonus Time Has Ended

Some of this is written in present tense and some in past tense when referring to Jasper. I know this isn’t grammatically correct, but it feels honest. When we lose someone we love, it takes time for our language to catch up to reality.

One of Jasper's dog beds that is now empty

To make the best decision about when it’s time to say goodbye to one of our pets, I gather data every day. Sometimes it’s a daily evaluation. Sometimes it’s hourly.

Jasper took a turn for the worse, and things went downhill very quickly.

Within just a few hours, he went from being able to hop around on three legs to not being able to get up at all. He could no longer walk or stand for more than a few minutes at a time. We have a harness for his hindquarters that helps him, and all of us. We explored wheels, but they don’t make them tall enough for him.

These size and weight related issues are things you don’t really think about when you get your first, or even your fifth, Great Dane.

We had to cancel with the pet photographer. None of us wanted to remember him unable to stand or walk on his own. She is so wonderful and offered some options, but we just couldn’t go through with it.

We contacted the mobile vet and set an appointment. Then we contacted our friend Zach, who has large earth-moving equipment, to let him know.

We took Jasper’s crate down. We cleaned up and removed his feeding station. These are things I have a very hard time seeing after they leave this earth.

Everything was in place.

We spent time loving Jasper. We gave him heavy doses of pain medication. We layed with him, especially during those stretches when one dose had worn off and the next hadn’t kicked in yet.

I contacted our adult children to let them know we were having a pet photographer come out and wanted them to be part of the photos. They all drove in from different places across the state. They were incredibly helpful, assisting with moving Jasper, helping him outside, and caring for him right alongside Scott and me. Unfortunately we didn’t get to take photos, but they were all here to say goodbye. They stayed until the end. They all love Jasper as much as we do, but they also knew that Scott and I needed the support just as much as Jasper did. I could not ask for a better support system.

By the time the vet arrived, Jasper had lost control of his bladder and both back legs. Although he was on a significant amount of pain medication, we decided it might be painful to move him outside. We circled around him and gave him pets as he took his last breath. We positioned Zayla and Freya so they could be present but not interfere with the vet. They miss him as much, if not more, than we do.

Zach was incredibly thoughtful in preparing the grave and stayed until we were ready for him to fill it in. He spent a couple of hours with us, giving us the time we needed to say goodbye.

The vet was very kind and made a paw print for us. Later that evening, I took Neenah’s paw print down from the shelf to compare the two. We had a good laugh at how much bigger Jasper was than Neenah. We also noticed some other details.

Neenah’s was dainty and perfect.

Jasper’s was giant. His whole pad didn’t even fit in the mold, and it had some of his hair and a bit of dirt pressed into it.

Both of those molds represent these two pups’ personalities perfectly.

Our bonus time has ended.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to give Jasper pets, shed tears for him, hug me, send messages, and keep us in your prayers. I hope he touched your lives in some small way. For many people, he was the first Great Dane they had ever met in person, and that’s probably something they’ll never forget. He had such a kind and loving, yet powerful presence about him.

I will continue this blog series a little longer. Mostly for me, to help process the grief, but maybe it will help someone somewhere who is struggling with a loss of their own.

Jasper Weaver January 1, 2018 - February 9, 2026