Moochie

She jumped and played and she slept in our beds. She was family and we all loved her…especially Nina.

It’s with deep sadness that I tell you that we had to put Dogg to sleep last night April 6, 2009 and our hearts are broken. She was one of the family and she will be missed. So many of you ask about her when I see you that I thought that you might want to hear some of her story.

Dogg lived with Nina at her house. We got Dogg at a farm that was giving away pups 13 years ago. She was the runt of the litter but I wanted a short haired female and she was the only one left. She was the cutest puppy I ever saw.

Back then Nina was laid up for many months with a rib injury that eventually ended with surgery. We got her Dogg to keep her company while she was confined at home. She spent every moment laying next to Nina on the sofa we made up to be a bed. When Nina moved out a few years later Dogg went with her. One day a roommate let Dogg slip out the door and poof – she was gone. For almost two weeks we looked, handed out flyers and showed her picture around. On the 13th day she showed up on her own, back at Nina’s house a little beat up for the experience but healthy enough. We were all so happy she was back.

Dogg was a jumper. She jumped and jumped. She could not contain herself if she saw someone she knew and liked. She would jump so high that she could look in our kitchen window to see what we were doing inside. She loved to sit right next to you no matter if in the house or car. She loved people (at least most of them). She made herself at home wherever she was. She begged all the time at the dinner table and I nicknamed her Moochie, it seemed so appropriate. She climbed over furniture more like a cat than a dog and always found the most comfortable place to lay down. She would lay on the top of the back of the sofa and she especially liked to lay in any beam of light that might be shining into the house.

Nina took great care of her, especially the last few years, since her vertebras were degenerating causing a lot of pain and loss of the use of her back legs. She bought her medicine, fed her special food and even got her chiropractic treatments to help ease the pain.

Yesterday afternoon Nina gave her a bath since she really likes her bath and especially the drying off ritual. Last night we played with her an petted her for about an hour and a half before we left to go to the vet’s. Her eyes were as bright and she was as perky and happy to see us as ever. She even jumped twice while we were there which made us question the decision to let her go. She had good days and bad days but the good days had become fewer and farther between and we didn’t think it was fair to her since the vet said it was just going to get worse. She had lost control of her bowels and she could no longer squat down to pee. On the ride over Nina held her and she was as calm as I have ever seen her. She held her while the doctor administered the anesthetic. She never moved or made a sound. I was holding her head and she was looking me directly in the eyes and then just fell asleep.

Today I stayed home to bury her in the yard. Nina wanted her under the crape myrtle tree in the back yard since that is where we buried Pepper back in November 1994. I still miss her from time to time but Dogg made it easier. Now I miss them both.

They say "never say never" but as for right now – no more pets for me.