Screen Grab from Robert Kugler/Facebook
A Marine veteran is taking his chocolate Labrador retriever on a bucket-list trip of a lifetime, after learning his dog has terminal cancer.
Rob Kugler has been documenting his cross-country road trip with 14-month old Bella on Facebook and Instagram, after she was diagnosed with osteo-sarcoma, a cancer of the bones, in May 2015.
Her condition was so severe that doctors were forced to amputate her front left leg, according to a Telegraph report.
“If you don’t want to take the leg you should put her down today, because she’s in so much pain,” Kugler recalled the advice he got from a veterinarian. “However, it won’t save her, because the cancer is in her lungs, and you’re looking at 3-6 months.”
Despite the doctor’s grave warnings, Bella is still going strong and recently embarked on her second long-distance trip around the US.
“The first was supposed to be her ‘Farewell Trip,’” the Nebraska native wrote on his blog. “We traveled for five months, and covered thousands of miles with many havens on couches and guest beds of the friends I’ve been fortunate enough to make across the country in my short lifetime. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience.”
Three months after they returned home to Nebraska, Kugler noticed that Bella was still in good shape, so he decided to embark on another trip—one they’re currently on.
“Starting only a few hundred miles to Southern Missouri, the trip got extended to Kentucky, then to Nashville, then clear to the Carolina coast to help a friend,” Kugler wrote. “We hurled ourselves right back into it, again, without a plan other than seeing who we know where and who would like to meet Bella along the way.”
Kugler knows that his cancer-stricken pal won’t be with him much longer and he’s making the most out of their time together by documenting it on social media.
“I lost my brother in Iraq in 2007 and my oldest sister in a car accident two Easters ago,” he said on his blog. “When you see lives end shortly before people get to do many of things they dream of doing, it changes your perspective on life.”
He added, “I feel like right now this is my purpose. Its chapter in my life right now is just exploring with my dog.” Khristian Ibarrola
Screen Grab from @robkugler Instagram
Screen Grab from @robertkugler Instagram