Sadie

This is a tribute to Sadie - one of the best friends I have ever had.

This week has been a really, really, really tough one. Why? We had to put down our 9 month old cock-a-poo puppy on Tuesday. About a month ago Sadie developed some soars all over her body, almost like little zits. But they were small and we took her to the vet, put her on medcation and within a week they were all cleared up. A couple days after she went off the medication they appeared again, and this time were much worse. She started getting soars around her eyes and mouth and nose. We were in and out and in and out of the vet for weeks trying her on different meds and new foods, etc, etc but nothing was working. The vet deducted that she had a form of Auto-immune disorer - like a really bad form of Lupis or Aids where the body attacks itself. On the day that we had to out her down she could not open her eyes because the soars had infested them, she couldn't walk because she didn't have enough energy because she wasn't eating. The poor girl was suffering so badly. On Monday I was talking to her(the dog lovers will understand that, yes you can talk to a dog) and I asked her what she wanted me to do for her (the vet said that we definately had to put her down but I was wrestling with the idea because I didn't want to feel like I was giving up on her - I wanted to fight for her) and I made the decision to put her down when, almost as if in response to my question, she let out a couple little whimpers, as if to say "Mom, make this pain stop".

I don't know if anyone can understand this, but the pain I feel over her death is overwhelming. I have never had to make a harder decision in my life, and it litterally breaks my heart that we had to end her life. We don't have kids so she really was my baby. I seriously looked forward to coming home everyday from work to see her. She was our form of entertainment - Dylan and I would watch her crazy antics and behaviours and just laugh and laugh. She was a true companion and a great friend.

So here is to you Sadie. To your wonderful spirit. I hope you love Heaven. Some favorite memories of Sadie:

-One day this last summer Dylan and I were lounging in my parents' pool and up pops this head at the side of the pool - she had, no word of a lie, climed the tall swim ladder, propped herself on the top with her hind legs on the back wrung and front legs on the front wrung, and then proceeded to jump into the pool and swim over to mine and Dylan's floatie.

-How much she loved and took care of our foster dogs.

-One time we took her to the Terwilligar dog park and this giant dog started chasing her - she got so scared that she ran and hid under a car and SCREAMED for her life! It was pretty funny.

-Every morning we played a game that went a little something like this: I would be in the bathroom getting ready for work and she would peek her head around the corner, make sure I wasn't paying attention, and then jump at me in her 'I want to play' pose (front legs stretched out in front of her and butt in the air). I would then jump at her, but not actually catch her and she would run around the corner and out of the room. I would go back into the bathroom and we would do it all over again. Over and over. Every morning.

-Hide and go seek - we would hide in various parts of the apartment and call her name and she would have to come and find us. She was SO proud when she did find us. And we would play it in the park - Dylan and I would run in different directions and hide behind trees - she would get so confused.

-We would take her to the park and to wear her out Dylan would run to one end of the park and I would stay at one end and hold her. Then Dylan would call her name from the far end of the park and she would SPRINT to him. When she got to him I would call her name and she would SPRINT to me. We did this over and over and over and over again - seriously, the girl had a lot of energy!

-One of her favorite games was played with my neice Jade. Since Jade could run, she has loved running down our hallways (the apartment hallways). We would always let Jade get a head start and then let Sadie go, and Sadie would chase Jade the whole way down the hallway, all the while Jade would just be laughing and laughing. So sweet.

-She loved to cuddle. Even right up until the last minutes of her life, we were cuddling, just my baby and I.

I could go on and on and those are just a few. So you see, we loved, adored, cherished her. She was so much more than a dog to us. She is sooooooo missed - I can't even describe it. I love you Sadie.