Pepa, you were such a little, bitty thing when we first brought you home. You fit in Daddy’s shoe! But always in trouble. We had you in a box on the back seat of the car when we selected you to go home with us. We stopped to eat, and thought you would be fine. You were too small to get out of the box. Wrong! When we got back to the car you had climbed out of the car and were exploring the inside. That was the first indication of how inquisitive you would always be.
You were supposed to be a companion to Buford, but he hated you for invading his space. He tolerated you because we told him you were now part of the family and he must. But you came into heat much sooner than we expected, and I didn’t seperate you two soon enough, and he decided he loved you! After being a perfect mother to a beautiful litter of puppies, we put a stop to that.
Then you had trouble with a back leg, it would lock up on you when you were playing and you would cry so hard! It was a Luxating Patella and we had a good young vet, even in the remote area where we lived, who fixed you up as good as new.
You stole you way into our hearts. Especially Daddy’s. When you had your surgery, he was the one who would carry you outside to potty, and clear a spot in the snow for you to stand in! How silly he acted with you, like a silly little boy. But you did that to us, made us so silly over you, because you were so silly yourself!
You potty trained yourself by following Buford through the doggy door. And you were so small that you had to climb to reach it, pull yourself up, and then you would high center over the edge! You would hang there and rock until you fell over the other side. How funny you were, but so smart! Never had an accident in the house. How embarrased you were the last couple of weeks when you tried so hard to make it outside and didn’t make it just a few times. I could see how ashamed you were, but you tried so hard!
Uou were an angel in many ways. You would wake up in the morning before I did, but you wouldn’t bother me if I was sleeping. You would sit at the side of the bed and watch me until I felt your eyes staring at me and then woke up. Then you started acting silly, shaking your head so hard with my slippers or shoes in your mouth until I would get up and get you a treat. My, did you like to eat! We had a battle with your weight for most of your life. But the past 1 1/2 years was a struggle to get you to eat and not keep losing weight. That was so sad, knowing how much you liked to eat, and then barely ate enough to stay alive.
The joys you gave us. I remember when we took you to a small stream in the country and you suddenly started rolling on the ground. You had found a cow pie and thought it smelled good, I guess! And we had to take you home in the car smelling like that!
You always came to greet us, followed your Daddy around like a little shadow. But it was always Mommy you came to when it was time to eat or if you had a sticker in your foot.
And how funny you were when we found that bird and brought it in the house! You wanted it so bad, we had to raise the crate it was in to a table so you couldn’t get the door open. That’s the picture I have submitted, because it shows what a real character you were!
I could write the good things all day, but the fact is that you started having problems. It ended up that you had Canine Cognitive Disorder, or Doggy Alzheimer’s Disease. You walked for hours in circles, until we forced you to sit or lay down. You wouldn’t drink water, the only fluids you got were in the food. You got trapped under furniture and in corners, but somehow you always seemed to recognize us or our voices. To see you like that was so hard, and we didn’t know what to do with you. But yesterday you gave it up after 11 1/2 years of joy. We are hurting so much and will always miss you, but we know you are in a better place, with Buford, and waiting for us to get there at the end of the Rainbow Bridge.
Be at peace my love.
You will always be in our hearts.,
| Pepa |
| 15, Jan 2011 |
| Carol & Pete |