Stormy by Cari / Cari

When I was born, my mother had a Pomeranian mix named Taffy. When Taffy turned 15, we decided maybe it was time to get another dog. We started looking into non-shedding, mixed breeds. Sure enough, we found someone who had a litter of Peke-a-poo puppies. However, there were only 2 left, and they were both males, and we wanted a female. We decided to go and take a look anyway. One had very curly poodle like hair and the other had very wavy hair. We took the one with wavy hair outside and he followed me around. We decided HE was the one.

We decided to name him Stormy. All black with a very long narrow white heart shaped mark on his chest, a little white goatee, and a docked two inch tail. Some people thought we should have named him Bear as he looked like a bear when he ran away from you with that docked tail.

I will never forget the first time we brought him home. He was so tiny, and it was such a surprise to my sister when she came over. As a puppy, he took to one of her twin boys right away. They were only a year and a half old.
He just loved Stormy.

As time went on, I taught him to do some agility work just for fun. He loved car rides, boat rides, and even the car wash. He grew to be 18 pounds but very fit. He even had an under bite. He was even trained to be a Therapy Dog. He was always so good with people and kids. Not a mean bone in his body. Stormy opened up the door
to non-shedding dogs and Peke-a-poos.

When Stormy was a year and a half old, we got a Poochon (Bichon-Poodle mix) named Kodi. These boys were your typical brothers. They went everywhere together. Stormy would even get out of my bed in the mornings and before going and seeing mommy, he would have to go into her bedroom and jump on the bed to get Kodi out from under the covers. I just loved that about the two of them.

In September of 2006, I got married and moved out. With Stormy being “my” dog, you would think I would have taken him with me. I couldn’t separate the 7 year old Stormy with his brother, 5 year old Kodi. So, I got another Peke-a-poo of my own, which you can find on this site as well, under the title, “Bosco’s Unexpected Short Story”. Bosco died just one day short of 10 weeks old.
(I got another peke-a-poo who is now 5).

In 2007, my husband and I moved to Michigan from Ohio. It was really hard to leave my mother and the two dogs, but after getting my own Peke-a-poo, it was much easier. My mother and the two boys came to visit occasionally, and I went down there as well. Stormy always slept with me when I went to visit.

In February of 2011, I was talking to my mother and she said Stormy was throwing up a little and not drinking that much water. We figured it was just something that he ate running around the groomer’s house, where he had been the day before. That Wednesday night, February 23, I received a text message from my sister, who had moved back in with my mother with her three boys and fiancé. It had stated, “Do not tell mom I am texting you, but I’m here to tell you that Stormy is not good. The whites in his eyes are starting to roll up.” Just then, another text message from my sister said our mother was calling an emergency vet who was 45 minutes away. The whole time I am becoming very restless and stressed. Not to mention, I was 14 weeks pregnant too. My sister’s fiancé and our mother arrived at the vet. They quickly took him back to an ultrasound, x-rays, and blood work. The doctor thought it might be something with his kidneys, which was treatable. (It’s so hard to write this)

They were in the exam room, and the vet tech gave something to Stormy to help relieve his pain. At that time the vet came in and had stated that his blood work was telling them that he was in complete liver failure. That was the one thing we didn’t want to hear. My mother said he was becoming unresponsive, even to my sister’s fiancé, who was his best friend for the last 2 years. At 1:30am on February 24, 2011, I was on the phone with my mother and I made the decision to have him put down. That was the first time I ever had to make that kind of a decision, plus, it was over the phone and four hours away. At 1:53am, I received a text message from my mom stating, “He’s at peace, we’re taking him home”. He was only 11 years old.

Stormy was my Bub”. A name I often called him as a mixture between Baby and Buddy.

As I sit here and write this, I can’t help but think how much fun he would’ve had in our backyard at our new house and with our daughter. He was truly one of a kind. He will always be missed and always loved. He is buried under a lilac bush with Taffy, Bosco, and three wonderful cats
that he grew up with.

I know he will be there waiting on us with all of them when we enter Heaven.

 

Mommy and I miss you Stormy.
You will forever and
always be loved, cherished and in our hearts.