We adopted Mugsy at 9 1/2 years old knowing that our time was very limited. He immediately turned out to be the most amazing, loving and gentile dog we'd ever met. I would describe him as a kind old soul with nothing but love to give and wanted nothing but to soak up the love we were giving hi...m. He started limping in his right front leg and showed signs of being in pain. We took him last Monday, 6... days ago, to our vet Judy Welcome to be looked at. She ran a bunch of tests and Xrays and came into the room with a very sad look and said I'm very sorry, I have very bad news for you. Mugsy had very advanced bone cancer (Osteosarcoma) in his leg and it had eaten up the bone. She said that it was so advanced that under the best conditions we may have two months left with him. She gave us plenty of pain meds to keep him comfortable and told us to enjoy the time we had left. We were refereed to CSU 's oncology dept for possible radiation options, our appointment was for this coming Wednesday. Mugsy passed away last night at 8pm. We recognized that he was in extreme pain yesterday that the meds weren't touching and we took him to an ER in Boulder. We were able to spend almost an hour with him in a comfortable, private room and he passed with his head in Kathy's arms.

We had decided not to tell everyone about the cancer thinking that we had several months still to deal with it. There was also a full week left in the contest he was in about his rescue story and we didn't want to feel that it may unfairly affect the voting. We wanted to win based only on the story, and we did. Mugsy died less than 24 hours after the contest ended and he won.

Mugs showed us love like we could have never expected and he filled us up again after the loss of our Gusdog when we needed it most. He was with us 4 days short of two months and became such a part of our lives that he may as well have been with us his entire life. He was the most special dog we've ever met, he will live on with us forever and he has shown us the joy that comes from rescuing a dog that needed a home and love. We will continue to adopt big dogs that need a good life, and the idea of a senior that need someone to take a chance on him again is at the top of our list. Thank you all who supported him in the rescue contest and helped him win 10,000 meals to donate to his rescue, Big Dogs Huge Paws. We have pieced together that Mugs did not live a good life prior to coming into the rescue. I can't believe what he went through and that he even stayed alive long enough for the wonderful people at BDHP to save him. All we know for sure is that the last two months of his life were his best. We know this without a doubt. Rest in peace my sweet guy.