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Golden Retriever Club of BC
Dedicated to responsible breeding and ownership through education
In Memoriam > "Echo"
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"Echo"

"Echo"

Echo Leeburn Case
August 4, 2004 - March 30, 2017


After 11 short years together, Echo succumbed to heart failure and left us on March 30, 2017. That big heart of his just couldn’t sustain him any longer. Echo’s early life story is documented in the “Happy Endings” section of the Golden Retriever Club of BC’s website (http://www.grcbc.org/grcbc_echo.html). We feel we spent every day since we met him on February 6, 2006 trying to make up for his rough start. And, of course, we needed more days to spoil our beloved first golden retriever. A week short of his second birthday (after having Echo for just five months), we got our first sign that he would make an excellent therapy dog. A good friend dropped by one evening. It was the day after her father’s funeral and she was feeling lost. We gave her a glass of wine and she sat down on the sofa and we sat in the chairs across from her to have a chat. Then Echo came over, climbed up on the sofa, and lay down beside her. He stayed there ever so calmly while she pet him and talked. He didn’t move, just snuggled up to her and stayed. Echo was the perfect therapy dog: he would walk into a room full of seniors and know exactly who needed him most. He brought comfort to many seniors over the years including one favourite man whom we visited six days in a row at the end of his life. Forever etched in my mind is Echo sitting by the window beside the dying man – both of them in the sunshine – and the man resting his hand on Echo’s head occasionally petting him. Once again, Echo didn’t move, he just sat. He is missed dearly and daily by Julie, John, and Jessie and will be forever in our hearts and minds. We will be eternally grateful to the Golden Retriever Club of BC for choosing us to adopt Echo.