Lady :(

My puppy dog, Lady, died early this morning. We had her for over 10 years. She was a rescue puppy from a horrible place. We got her the day before my birthday in 8th grade. She was little then but only grew to be 22 lbs, not the 40 we were told.

We shared a bedroom. I would sleep in my bed at night and she would spend the days in it with the blinds pulled up, watching the world go by and enjoying the sun. She was also excited to see us when we would come home. Her only flaw was that she would get so excited at times that she would pee. The vet said that might stop next to never. We all have our intricacies, I guess.

(Most of my pictures are on my old computer).



Several years ago, a neighbor's dog across the street had a litter of golden retrievers. My brother picked one out and it was amusing to see a 20 lb dog rule over a puppy who would eventually weigh 77 lbs. They would run around outside and chase each other. Barca would stalk her very obviously and Lady would just watch her and then go chase her. As years passed, Lady stopped chasing her and just watched her. She still played catch and would challenge Barca whenever a toy was thrown. We accepted her as growing older.

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In the house, she would sleep on the couch in one of the corners, preferably with a blanket around her. She would spend time in the bay windows patrolling and ensuring the house was protected. She was an amazing dog!

My mom called me on Saturday to say that she though Lady was dying. She had vomitted severl times and wasn't eating. Not eating was a big indicator because one of Lady's nicknames was "trash dog" since she would eat practically anything. We thought it was a part of her survival instincts from puppyhood. I couldn't go see her on Saturday, so we changed our Sunday afternoon plans: Sunday lunch from Sunday dinner with the parents. When I saw her, she was skinnier, walked really slowly and criss-crossed her hind legs. I had to admit to myself that it didn't look good. My parents had given her peptobismol and gatorade at the suggestion of a vet. She couldn't keep it down. I left her that evening, saying good bye, knowing that on Monday I would go with mom to the vet to have her put to sleep, since with her heart murmur and age she wouldn't survive surgery.

That night when I went to bed, I said my prayers and asked God that if Lady was going to die, that he would take, so we wouldn't have to decide. But if she just had a stomach bug, to let her survive and to provide the vets with wisdom to treat. I woke up this morning to a phone call from my mom saying that she had passed. I appreciate God's answer to prayer to end her suffering, even if it is sad. Tonight she will be buried in the back yard where she enjoyed so much sun bathing and fun.