This beautiful trip was meant for Dante, my 13 year old Boxer mix that needed a special excursion all his own. He needed a few days where he could be shown how much he was loved. We needed to fill him with steak and chicken nuggets and ice cream. If only Dante could have come with me to Banff, I could have shown him how much he meant to me…

Dante, gazing at Dad for a treat
But instead, while I was out of town Dante died of heart failure on a Tuesday just a few days before his special trip. I didn’t get to tell him how much I loved him. I didn’t get to hold him and tell him it was all going to be ok as his heart failed him and he was fading. I wasn’t there when he needed me most of all. I will always have to live with that – I only hope that he has forgiven me. Knowing Dante – he most certainly has. That’s just how he rolled.
So, with sadness and regret in my heart, I decided that I should take that trip to Banff anyway. If I hadn’t taken Pebbles and Kingsley to Banff that day, maybe I would have regretted that too. Life is so unpredictable and precious. You just never, ever know what you are gonna get. Live each day as if it was your last, and hug all your fur-babies.
And now with great pride, here are my Pebbles and Kingsley (and, I am pretty sure Dante was there too… somewhere among those white, fluffy clouds).

Kingsley found a duck!

“That’s enough modelling for today mum!”

Pebbles looking like a fawn

Give. Me. That. Treat.

Drool much?

Pebbles at Banff Springs Hotel