I posted this in another thread many months ago, but decided to share it here.
Our sweet Gracie passed away 2-1/2 years ago. Gracie was a mixed rescue pooch, about 3 years old (we think) when we adopted her, with very little known about her history. My strong sense was that she was neglected, most likely abused, and dumped by the side of the road. She was discovered with a litter of pups when they were all picked up by a NC pound. A rescue group took the pups but unbelievably, left Gracie at the pound, to be euthanized. Thankfully another group came to Gracie’s rescue and transported her to Virginia. When we adopted Gracie, she was living with her foster mom, Lee, for about 6 weeks.
Gracie was initially stand-offish and depressed when she came to live with us. She found shelter in her crate, but gradually joined us on the sofa and for walks. She slowly began “talking.” Trust was slowly developing. At that time Gracie enjoyed going outside, but only when we accompanied her. I think Gracie was afraid she would be abandoned again.
About two months after Gracie was with us, she began acting strangely. She suddenly wanted to remain outside, only coming into the house to eat. We even had to coax Gracie to come in at bedtime. When she initially began her odd behavior, we thought Gracie had run away because at first we couldn’t locate her. We discovered Gracie inside a hole she had dug for herself, in a small, isolated wooded area of our backyard. Each time we let her out she would return to that hole, again and again. After about 4 days of her perplexing behavior, we decided to call our vet and see what he thought was going on. Before we had a chance to contact him, we received a call from Crystal, the director of the rescue group from where we had adopted Gracie. Crystal told us that Lee, Gracie’s foster mom, had passed away in her sleep, from an aneurysm. It was quite shocking, especially since Lee was only 23 years old. I then asked, “when did Lee die?” Crystal responded, “Monday morning.” It immediately occurred to us that Monday was the first day Gracie had begun her odd behavior. Our dear, sweet Gracie knew what had happened to Lee, her first real human mom and probably the first person who had ever consistently shown Gracie kindness and pure love. Gracie was in mourning.
Once we understood the situation, we stopped worrying and let Gracie be. After about a day or so, she rejoined our family. Over time she loved going outside to chase squirrels or protect her turf, but she also loved spending equal time with us, inside our home. We also made yearly trips to the beach, where Gracie loved to surf fish with us. And over the next 11 years, she blossomed. Gracie passed away from cancer and we buried her ashes with a stone marker under her favorite sycamore tree, where she spent hours patrolling for squirrels. It comforts me to think that Lee was there to greet Gracie when she passed on. And Gracie will be there, waiting to greet us, when our time comes.
For nine years I had my dog, the greatest source of love in my life at that time, my Toby.
Toby and I shared ill health although I did not think of him as unhealthy until the next dog came along, Penny, world's healthiest pup. I left Penny for my daughter as Penny always chose her first. Toby was supposed to be for my daughter but he became my dog and rarely left my side for very long.
Toby was my heart, and he was devoted to me. When I was injured and walked very slowly especially up and down steps he walked and waited on each step with me.
I learned to paint so I could paint a picture of him. I have painted several.
Toby died of heart failure at 10 years of age in December of 2018. I asked him to meet me when I die, to be the first sight I see, him running towards me. If there is a G-d and angels than he will be there.
I wish I could figure out how to attach a photo. I tried but didn’t work.
I love all the dog pictures! They are all gorgeous!! And Lawrence, the raincoat LOL
@yogagirl, If you click on "Attach file' (Choose File), it will go out to your folders. If you have the picture saved as a jpg in one of your folders, you then click on the file, tell it to open, and it will show up at the bottom of your text as an attachment. When you post the file, the actual picture will show at the bottom of your post. I hope I'm making sense!
I'm not certain whether you're able to post two pictures; you might have to post each separately. Also, there is a file size limit, although I can't remember now what that is. I was unable to find that info under the Forum Rules. ?
We have two dogs and 1 kitty right now. The Chi-daschi is Coco. She looks like a chihuahua, but she has mostly daschund brain... emphasis on hund (hound).
Here's a pic of her in her morning routine - she likes to hang out on the deck and have breakie al fresco. These little dogs are very good at self care!
And it wouldn't be right to omit our original princess, Bambi! She's my little chihuahua with heart failure... but smart as a whip and the most polite dog I have ever known.
Thanks DeeToo it worked. That is Mr Pea and Harry playing with their Christmas present. They are so well mannered they take turns.