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My long time Friend I had been without a dog for several years because my heart was broken. I had to say goodbye to my friend of 15 years, my Mister Wooley, when I saw an ad in the paper for a 6 month old Shih Tzu puppy. The people said they had two dogs and they were starting a new business and didn’t have time to take care of them anymore. I decided I would go and look at the dog. The moment I saw him standing and looking out the store front window of their new business, I knew he was going home with me. He was just one big white fur ball and just the cutest thing I had ever seen. He was so friendly, and seemed he was needed love. I needed love too. We were a pair. He was such a good dog. He was smart and funny and very loving. One of his favorite things to do was throw a toy in the air and then shake it up. One day he picked up a slipper of mine and threw it and it hit my husband in the jaw. It had a hard sole, so it kind of hurt, but we had to laugh so hard anyway. He would shake the toy so hard that he would sometimes lose his balance and fall down himself. We went for many walks and I took him everywhere I went. He was terrified of rain storms, thunder, and lightning. I spent many a night up with him trying to comfort him. I remember a time when a friend of mine took him with her through a car wash, not knowing he was so frightened of water. He also did not like other dogs or cats coming in his yard or house. As small as he was, he would chase anything to get it away from his yard or house. He once chased a huge cat out from under the bushes. It took a long time for him to get used my daughter’s Shih Tzu, but eventually they did. My twin daughters come to my house every morning for breakfast, and Gizmo would sit up on the top of the recliner, looking out the window for their car to pull in the driveway. Even on weekends he would sit there. I would tell him they were not coming today, but he had to decide that for himself. He knew the car and got all excited when he saw it. One day I noticed he could know longer hear me, and he seemed to sleep all the time. Wherever I went, he was there. If I sat down, he was on my lap, if I got up to get a cup of coffee he followed me. He wanted to be near me all the time. My sister said “He is doing what is most important to him now and that is being with the one person he loves.” . He is now 14. I can’t imagine my life without him, and I know there isn’t another dog who could ever take his place in my heart. He became ill the day before Christmas Eve and the vet thought he had an allergy. He was all plugged up and couldn’t breathe. She kept him for three days and then sent him home to me, but he did not improve. I took him to another vet who said he thought maybe his trouble was coming from his teeth, but that he thought he was too old to do anything with and that I should make the decision to put him down. Again I changed vets and found a hospital with very loving and kind people. They did clean his teeth and he came through with flying colors, but the breathing problem didn’t go away. Finally, he quit eating and his oxygen level dropped to 92. At 90 the vital organs shut down. With the suggestion of the vet, I took him to the University of Minnesota where they diagnosed him with Lymphoma Stage 5. There were several biopsies taken and he said he wanted to wait for the last one to come in to be sure, but that if it turned out to not be cancer, they had no idea what it was and that he would have to endure more tests and possibly more painful surgery. The vet said they didn’t even know if he would survive it or if they could even get to it. He is suffering and I cannot watch him go through this anymore. He has been there for me every day for the last 14 years, waiting for me at the door when I came home wagging his tail because he was just so happy to see me, jumping up on my lap whenever I sat down just to be near me, and snuggling up in the bed beside me every night. How am I ever going to go on without those things in my life again? I decided that I just couldn’t watch him suffer anymore and we took our last trip to the Vet. On January 21st, 2005 I stroked the soft white hair and kissed those beautiful eyes, and whispered goodbye to my little sweetheart Gizmo. I told him how much I loved him, but I never realized how much until he was gone. My heart is so empty. Everything in this house reminds me of him. When I get up in the morning, there is no little dog to let out, no one to feed, no one there when I come home. No one waits on the recliner for the girls anymore, and going to sleep is the most difficult, because he isn’t there with me. I only wait for the day when I will see him again. You are so very missed my little buddy and so very loved.
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