Kai

Today was an impossibly sad day in the Martin house.  We had to say goodbye to the 4 legged member of the Martin men after a long battle with cancer.

We adopted Kai as a puppy from a shelter when Sean and I were newly engaged.  He spent every day of his puppy years at the dog park.  Our only "child" at the time and we spoiled him.

 He welcomed his three little brothers and took on the role of protector and life guard.  Kai was not an alpha dog by nature so at times he seemed stressed by his new role but he dutifully took it on anyway.  "Kai" would go on to become all three boys' first word.

As a pup he was always getting himself into trouble.  One time he was mad at my husband for traveling so he bit off every single button off his work shirts.  Another time he managed to eat a box of tile spacers (makes for interesting poop cleanup) and an entire bottle of Advil.  Despite warnings from the vet that he probably wouldn't survive, he came home 3 days later, wagging his tail as if nothing had happened.  Don't even get me started on the time he chased a goose into a river, only to get swept away and need rescuing a mile down river.  It should have come as no surprise then that he'd sale through 7 months of chemotherapy and outlive his prognosis many times over.

He was a scrappy mutt but carried himself as an elder statesman.

Kai could not be left in the house while we were in the pool or he would literally try to chew his way out to get to us.  Whenever anyone was in the pool he would swim laps as our lifeguard.  Barking if it seemed like anyone was in trouble.

He was a great companion and friend.

Kai was a naturally anxious dog so the boys stressed him at times but man did he love them...

...and did they love him. 

He was a dog who loved life... 

...and his family pack.

In the end, he ended up leaving our world in the same way he came into it.

He will be missed.  RIP Kai.