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Dogs give us unlimited loyalty, love, and devotion......and sometimes we don't deserve it.
ONE OF MY GOALS IS TO BE AS GOOD AS MY DOG ALREADY THINKS I AM (author unknown)
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A Native American Fable:
"When the Great Spirit of the World first made
man and the animals, they lived together in peace and harmony. However, as
time passed, the animals and man began to have animosity toward
each other so the Great Creator decided to separate them. So, he caused a
chasm to be formed along the earth's surface, with man on one side and all
of the animals on the other side. As the chasm widened, the dogs became
more and more agitated because they were being separated from man, who
the
dogs loved and respected very much. Finally, at the very last minute
before the chasm would be forever too wide to ever cross again, the dogs
jumped over to the other side where they have lived forever since as a loyal
and faithful companion to man."
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Sissie
She was born April 19, 2010, and weighed 2lbs 6oz when we brought her home at the age of 10 weeks.
At 10 weeks she was still a baby, crying for her mama at night and learning to focus her eyes in the daytime.
Sissie at 15 weeks: 4lbs, 6oz
Sissie at 19 weeks - 5lbs 4oz
Sissie at 6 months - 7lbs.
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"Sissie" on her 2nd birthday April 19, 2012.
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Sissie at one-year-8lbs (May 2011)
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On December 5, 2011, we almost lost Sissie. At 5am on a routine day I put Sissie on her leash and took her with me to the front yard to get the morning newspaper, where we were attacked by two large stray dogs. I was finally successful in getting her away from the dogs, and she survived after 3 hours of surgery in a critical care animal facility. I endured Rabies treatment for bites that I received and Sissie eventually recovered from her traumatic injuries and returned to being a fun loving puppy.
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"It came to me that every time I lose a dog,
they take a piece of my heart with them.
And every new dog who comes into my life
gifts me with a piece of their heart.
If I live long enough, all the components of
my heart will be dog,and maybe
I will become as generous and loving
as they are."
~Unknown
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Julie
Birthdate: September 11, 2001 - Died: December 30, 2009
SHIH-TZU
Queen Julie in her Prime......4lbs 8oz
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Julie was our first dog with a pedigree. Our previous dogs had been either strays or puppies someone was just getting rid of.
But as much as we loved her, the pedigree didn't make her more loved than any of our other dogs.
We believe that Julie was actually a rescued dog because she had been a breeder that nearly died and was no longer commercially or financially productive, and we took her away from all that.
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Weighing only 4lbs 8oz when mature, she was truly "Imperial", as the tiny ones are frequently called.
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NAME: SISSIE JULIE SIRE: MUFFIN DAWN CASPER DAM: SWEATY'S SISSIE
BREED: SHIH-TZU COLOR: GOLD & WHITE CKC#: SH-01674980
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When Julie was born she was so beautiful and perfectly formed, that her owners selected her to become a breeder. But, after the birth of her first puppies, it was determined that her diminutive size of 4lbs/8ozs was too small for her to safely breed again, so she was retired and came to live with us for the remainder of her short life. She rode home from the kennel in my wife's arms and their bonding was complete and forever by the end of the first day. Julie quickly decided that she would rather be mothered, than to be a mother, and she became the sweetest, most loving, and if possible, the most perfect of all of the animal children that have been a part of our family throughout the years. Her little heart unexpectedly stopped beating at the age of 8 years during Christmas week of 2009. We still wonder how such a little girl could leave such a big void after she was gone?
We have assembled this collection of pictures from Julie's life to have a place to remember her.
Young Julie
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Julie and her Mom....Julie preferred to be mothered, rather than be a mother.
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Reflective Julie
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Rock Star Julie
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"OK, you have my full attention....now what?"
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Julie & Christmas
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"Sweater not needed, but thanks anyway!"
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"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?"
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Snow-boarding on a Steel-Guitar.
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"Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes!"
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Last picture of Julie before she unexpectedly died Christmas week 2009.
We were having our morning coffee while Julie slept at our feet, when suddenly she began struggling for breath and died before we could take her to animal emergency. We used to think that it might be easier to lose one quickly that way rather than for us having to make that decision.............but it wasn't!
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Metoo
The background music on this page, "Mama's Baby Boy", is an original composition in remembrance of "Metoo".
Birthdate: (est) 1990 - Died: 2008
SHIH-TZU
16 lbs
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Metoo's actual birthdate is unknown. We rescued him from the street in 1996 where we found him abandoned and near death. The vet estimated his age at six years.
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When he became older, we brought Julie home and he became her reluctant big brother. He was an independent little dog, and I sometimes thought he never stopped waiting for his first owner to come back, but he was loyal to a fault. When we were doing our daily walk, he silently sent any aggressive dog to the other side of the street, and it didn't matter how big they were.........he was the alpha dog in our neighborhood.
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Metoo & Julie
"MOM!!......Julie's touching me again!"
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Metoo at the steel-guitar
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"HO HO HO, now can I get down?"
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"You're crazy if you think I'm going outside in this get-up!"
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"You woke me for what?"
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Near the end of his 18 years of life when his hearing and vision was gone, I slept on a couch near him so that when he awoke in the night afraid, I could touch him and comfort him, or carry him outside where the night seemed to calm him. It's sad that the first owner of this little "throw-away" dog didn't appreciate him.
The last picture of Metoo before he died at the age of 18..
We still miss him.
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Gabby
Birthdate: 1990 - Died: 1999
LHASA
19 lbs - She was a plus-sized girl!
Gabby was a little Lhasa puppy that was left on our street. She belonged to some neighbors and I saw their children abusing the puppy by hitting it with a stick, so I admonished them and when the family moved away they left her abandoned. She wandered and cried until my wife gathered her up and brought her to stay with us until we could find a home for her. Our vet found that she was epileptic and would require medication to control seizures, so, we kept her and administered her medication at precisely 5pm for the remainder of her life.
She died of cancer at the age of 9.
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Gabby near the end of her life. She snapped and snarled at us when we were trying to comfort her because she was hurting, but we know that she knew we were trying to help her.
When the pain of her cancer overcame her quality of life, we ended her life, but her essence is still with us.
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Scruffy
Birthdate: Unknown Went Missing: 1999
WESTIE&POODLE
10 lbs
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Scruffy was already a mature dog when we rescued him from the street in 1989. We intended to find him a home, but he climbed into our hammock with me and went to sleep, and I was hooked.
But, he was a runner and a renegade, and never wanted to be a captive, and he refused to be housebroken or live in the house. He lived in the tool shed in our back yard with an electric heater during the winter, and continued to run away periodically when he found an open gate or could dig a hole under the fence. He wore identification and we retrieved him many times during his lifetime, sometimes long after we had given up hope, but then someone would find him and call us to come get him. We had grieved for him several times before the final loss.
After he became old, he ran away less frequently, but, one day he escaped one last time and we never saw him again. For a year we continually called all the animal shelters in the metropolitan area in case someone turned him in, but never found him. He was so old that we thought he may have gone away to find a solitary place to die, but we never knew for sure.
He was a renegade, but we still remember him with fondness, and we regret not knowing the circumstances of the end of his life. But, Scruffy never met a stranger and he could charm a cobra, so we have hoped that someone took him in at the end so that he didn't die cold or hungry or in pain.
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