Oct. 2 1986 —– May 29 2000
Cocker Spaniel
I remember the Christmas holidays of 1986 like it was yesterday.
My mother and sister gave me a blond Cocker Spaniel puppy as
a gift and I didn’t know if I could handle trying to raise a new pup.
But from the first night with her I knew she was very different from most dogs.
Even though Sassy was only six weeks old she never cried when
I introduced her to my home. She slept next to me that first night
and never made a sound. My roommate at the time and
I invented games to play with her and she loved to catch a ball
play tug-of-war with an old sock and go for long walks around town.
She always pranced around on a walk like she was the “head hound” in town.
I got married in the fall of 1989 when Sassy was three years old and
I wondered how she would handle another lady being added to
our household but she loved my new wife and made her feel
protected and safe when I had to be out of town on a business trip.
Marsha and I had an evening ritual of long walks with good conversation
and Sassy was always at the back door ready to go with leash in mouth.
She was our only baby until she was nearly nine years old.
In May of 1995 we brought home our first child a daughter named Hannah
and being the worried new parents that we were our first
concern was if Sassy would become jealous.
But she checked Hannah out on her first day home and
decided that she liked a new sister being around.
Hannah and Sassy kept us entertained every day and Sassy
continued loving all of us as before.
She enjoyed weekend trips to the grandparents house as if it
was her own home.
As Sassy reached her twilight years our son named Clay was born
in September 1998 and Sassy welcomed him into our home with no problem.
Over the last year and a half Sassy had slowed down quite a bit but at
times would show the “puppy” side of herself and make the kids giggle a lot.
Our Memorial Day weekend of 2000 will be remembered as one of the worst
that our family has shared. Saturday started just like any other day with
Sassy being her normal self but late in the day she started passing
some blood. Her vet seemed to think that it was a urinary tract infection,
but after antibiotics had not improved the situation by Sunday night
we knew it was something much more serious.
By the time I called the vet early Monday Sassy was bleeding a lot and
was struggling to breathe. I realized that this might be the end of
our time together. When I arrived at the vet’s office I was told that she had
some major internal bleeding and nothing could really be done except for
trying some medication and an I-V.
The vet told me I would have to make a decision by noon as to what
I wanted to do. I dreaded making that decision and just after noon
the vet called to tell me that Sassy had made the decision for me as
she passed away on her own.
Our family has struggled since then–Hannah cries a lot which makes
Dad and Mom cry even more.
Clay goes around the house calling for his favorite doggy.
Our home seems so empty and the routines that we had each day with Sassy
are so hard to stop. We try to remember the good times of over 13 years more
often than the last 36 hours of her life.
In the next few days we are building a memorial in our back yard
(at Hannah’s request) with flowers a ceramic Cocker and a memorial stone.
It will always remind us of the long curly ears flopping in the wind as
she ran and the little tail wagging a hundred miles an hour.
Sassy we know you are at the Rainbow Bridge where all loved puppy
dogs go after this life.
We love and miss you so much and will NEVER EVER forget you.
Thanks gal for all of the great times and wonderful memories.
We know you left this earth knowing how much you were loved.
Thanks Mom and sis for giving me the most wonderful Christmas gift
almost 14 years ago I could have ever had!!
All of our love,
Andy Marsha Hannah and Clay
| Sassy |