My name is Dawn.  I am living with the man of my dreams...Travis. We are both freelance business owners and parents of a beautiful, 4 month old baby girl named Mila.  We are dog lovers.  

For the first 10 years of Travis and I's relationship I begged him for a dog.  I grew up with dogs but had never had one of my own in my adult life.  Travis never thought it was a good idea because we lived in downtown Los Angeles in a small loft apartment.  That didn't stop me from asking every week for several years.  I wanted a dog in the worst way. 
So in October of 2012 Travis decided...we're ready.  It was important for us to rescue but it needed to be a pup.  We had plans for children and wanted a dog we could raise and trust.  That's when we found our sweet boy...Jax. 




Over the course of three weeks we went through an application process, attended a 'puppy parenting class',  bought toys, food, collar and leash...you name it.  And finally, on November 9th, 2012 after 10 years of asking and wanting...we brought home our very own puppy. We brought home Jax. 
It was instantaneous...we were in love.  We immediately took him on as many pup adventures as we could...hikes, dog parks and puppy play dates with neighbors dogs.  We introduced him to snow and his favorite...dog beach.


Over the course of the next two and a half years this sweet pup secured the biggest spot in both Travis and I's hearts.  He was so funny and goofy, sweet and loving, smart and handsome.  He brought endless amounts of joy and laughter to our lives.  We were the luckiest fur-parents in the world. 

After two years Travis and I decided to add to our family...we decided to have a baby.  We couldn't wait to raise a child alongside Jax.  He was going to be the best fur-brother in the world.  We just knew it. 
So at the end of 2014 I became pregnant and we rented and moved into a house with a great backyard for Jax. 

On March 22nd our beautiful daughter entered the world.  We were SO excited to bring her home and introduce her to Jax.  He approved immediately and licked her tiny feet.  This...this is everything...this is my family.

Any parent will tell you...those first few weeks with a newborn are a whirlwind.  Week three, before we could settle in to this new life and routine, something seemed wrong with Jax.  He was drinking excessive amounts of water.  We took him to the vet for basic testing. Everything checked out fine. No red flags.  But four days later he suffered a seizure in the middle of the night.  I was holding our daughter crying and Travis...the rock of our family...was visibly shaken.  This was his buddy, his best friend and this was my first baby. We rushed Jax to the ER. 

We spent the following week going back and forth from our vet doing several tests trying to figure out what could have caused the seizure and his unquenchable thirst.  And every day Jax was getting worse.  Finally a diagnoses...Cryptocaucus.  A fungus found in the environment that rarely causes trouble in dogs has set-up shop in his central nervous system slowly cutting off his motor skills.  We started an aggressive treatment however after one week of this treatment Jax's symptoms worsened. We found ourselves rushing him to another emergency vet. His condition was serious. We told them to do whatever they had to do to save our sweet boy.  But much to Travis and I's shock we lost him three days later.
On May 5th we received a phone call at 2 in the morning that he was not doing well.  We left our daughter with Nana and went to see our boy.  By 4am we had to say our goodbyes. 
Jax was only two and a half years old. 




Not a day has gone by that we don't greive him.  He was never a dog to us.  We never even referred to him as a dog.  He was our pup, our knucklehead, our sweet boy, The Pooper (a nickname that started from 'The Puppy') he was our first baby. 
It is his third birthday today and tomorrow will mark 3 months since we lost him.  We haven't been able to tell the majority of our friends and family because it has just been too painful. 

Now we are dealing with the financial fallout  from his emergency care.  It is because of this that I am here on GoFundIt. 
Travis and I are hardworking people and asking for help is extremely difficult.  But with our beautiful baby girl in mind we have decided to reach-out to our friends, family and loved ones for help. 

Our goal is to raise $2,000. It's a fraction of the vet bill but it would be a good start for us. 

Words cannot describe how much we miss our sweet boy.  It is a sorrow that will always exist in our hearts.
Our only hope is to move on from the financial burden so that we can provide for our daughter.
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story.