replicaracer43
Grumpy Old Man
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- Oct 10, 2008
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Sometimes there BETTER than family....
She is fully capable of eating. After he passed away she stopped eating out bowls plates even off the floor. We have to hand feed her most of the timeThanks. About 8 months ago, my wife made Prissy a new plate that made it easier for her to eat out of. She took a cereal bowl, turned it upside down and glued a salad plate to the bottom of it. It was much easier for her to eat because she didn't have to bend over so far to eat. With her vertigo, she would loose her balance when she tried to bend over so far to eat. For about the last 5 months, I would lay in the floor with her twice a day while she ate, and rotate her plate for her so she could easily find her next bite because she couldn't see very well. She was an Imperial Shi Tzu, which are a small version. She only weighed 9 lbs back in her fat girl days...lol.
Thank you to all who have replied, and others that will beyond this. Reading your stories and seeing pics of your furry family members certainly does help.
It's taken me a week to be able to post this and still be able to see how to do it. I knew the day was coming, but you never can fully prepare yourself to lose a pet. Especially one who has been by your side for 16 years. Last week, on the 21st, my little Shi Tzu went to the Rainbow Bridge to wait on me. She was 17 years and 12 days old. We got her when she was a year old from a nice young lady who had to give her up because of a life situation. I promised her we would take good care of her and give her a good home. In the kindest way she could muster, she told me to please be patient with her because she doesn't seem to like men. When we got home and gave her a bath, we let her sleep with us on the bed like we did our other little dog. It was that very first night that she took up with me, and we were down like 4 flat tires for the next 16 years. Lots of good times! She was the most stubborn little dog we ever had....to everyone but me! If she got in trouble and my wife yelled at her, she would run around behind me and look at my wife with that "Yeah! Now whatcha gonna do?" look on her face and make my wife even madder...lol. She was always very healthy, but when she was around 14 she started losing her hearing, but adjusted pretty well. Then she started getting cataracts, and our vet said she was too old to get the surgery. She managed that as well as she did the hearing loss and soldiered on. Last year, she started getting Vertigo pretty bad and we had to give her medicine to keep it at bay. The vet said she was also getting cognitive disorder and that there was no treatment for that. He told us the signs and milestones of that to watch for, so we would know when it was time to make the decision to let her go, with the last ones being she wouldn't want to eat as often and not be able to sleep well. Being an older dog, she slept a lot so that was the main one we watched for. She turned 17 on the 9th of this month, while we were at our camper at the beach a few weeks ago. 10 days later, she got to where she couldn't rest, barely ate and was just generally agitated. She had a good life and was a wonderful little dog. We've had 4 Shi Tzu's in the last 25 years and she was the last dog standing. I feel guilty for picking favorites when they all have been great, but she was my favorite dog ever and the best little furry friend I've ever had. I'll go to my grave missing her, but I know that right after the last breath I ever take, the next thing I see will be her standing there at The Rainbow Bridge with that little tail wagging. R.I.P. Prissy. Life won't be the same without you, but I will see you again!
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I have lost other large dogs over the years and it is always hard. I don’t know if it’s just harder now that the kids are all grown up. But these little pups seem to be more affectionate. They lay on your feet all the time and are always next to or on you.
I think it was Will Rogers who said "If there's no dogs in Heaven, then I want to go where they are when I die." Or something like that.that is the perfect picture, thanks so much for sharing it. I really do believe that all dogs go to heaven!
Sorry to hear. I understand that feeling very well. Takes time to heal that kinda pain/loss. Good pic of you two. The choosen trust of an animal is special.It's taken me a week to be able to post this and still be able to see how to do it. I knew the day was coming, but you never can fully prepare yourself to lose a pet. Especially one who has been by your side for 16 years. Last week, on the 21st, my little Shi Tzu went to the Rainbow Bridge to wait on me. She was 17 years and 12 days old. We got her when she was a year old from a nice young lady who had to give her up because of a life situation. I promised her we would take good care of her and give her a good home. In the kindest way she could muster, she told me to please be patient with her because she doesn't seem to like men. When we got home and gave her a bath, we let her sleep with us on the bed like we did our other little dog. It was that very first night that she took up with me, and we were down like 4 flat tires for the next 16 years. Lots of good times! She was the most stubborn little dog we ever had....to everyone but me! If she got in trouble and my wife yelled at her, she would run around behind me and look at my wife with that "Yeah! Now whatcha gonna do?" look on her face and make my wife even madder...lol. She was always very healthy, but when she was around 14 she started losing her hearing, but adjusted pretty well. Then she started getting cataracts, and our vet said she was too old to get the surgery. She managed that as well as she did the hearing loss and soldiered on. Last year, she started getting Vertigo pretty bad and we had to give her medicine to keep it at bay. The vet said she was also getting cognitive disorder and that there was no treatment for that. He told us the signs and milestones of that to watch for, so we would know when it was time to make the decision to let her go, with the last ones being she wouldn't want to eat as often and not be able to sleep well. Being an older dog, she slept a lot so that was the main one we watched for. She turned 17 on the 9th of this month, while we were at our camper at the beach a few weeks ago. 10 days later, she got to where she couldn't rest, barely ate and was just generally agitated. She had a good life and was a wonderful little dog. We've had 4 Shi Tzu's in the last 25 years and she was the last dog standing. I feel guilty for picking favorites when they all have been great, but she was my favorite dog ever and the best little furry friend I've ever had. I'll go to my grave missing her, but I know that right after the last breath I ever take, the next thing I see will be her standing there at The Rainbow Bridge with that little tail wagging. R.I.P. Prissy. Life won't be the same without you, but I will see you again!
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That's sucks. That's how Princess was, She was ALWAYS there unless I was at work, and for the last month, she came with me to Customers homes. Historic Neighborhoods and all, even made friends with one's Boxer, sad story, the Boxer, younger even, passed away a week or so first, heart attack, outta nowhere. The Anesthesiologists wife INSISTED I keep bringing HerSo, so sorry for your loss. I know it hurts like heck and there's nothing you can do about it.
I had to make the call to put my great big fluffy Goldendoodle down on Christmas Eve 2018. He gave us 14-1/2 absolutely terrific years but he wasn't going to make it another day. Still tough after 3-1/2 years as he was "my" dog - followed me everywhere. I will say time helps but you never forget.
My fiancee is a vet tech, I have no idea how she deals with this so often. But I can promise you every single person who worked with your dog had it just as hard as you.
We lost ours a few years ago and my girl still gets tears sometimes. She was a breeder in a puppy mill and someone dumped her by the side of the road. Somehow she wandered into our back yard one night and never left.
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