The "Our Pets Truly Are Family", edition.

iPad shuffled to "Valentine Love", Michael Henderson. Hadn't heard that in a while. What a pleasant surprise.  :-)  Some of my readers already know that yesterday we had to say goodbye to our precious dog, Jade.  She was 12 years old. Not bad for a dog. I dislike the short lifespan of dogs.  But it's a 2 way street. If they lived longer, I wouldn't have had 4 wonderful furry friends. <3   I've had a dog for over 45 years. Victor, a miniature-toy poodle, was my first. My reward for going to overnight camp when I was 10 years old.  A miniature-toy is a cross between a miniature poodle and a toy poodle, separate breeds. They are not teeny tiny poodles.  He was followed by Maury, another miniature-toy poodle He was more my mom's dog than mine, but I inherited him when my parents moved to Las Vegas. He joined Clark, the giant poodle Brian and I got 3 months after we got married.

"Here I Go Again", Whitesnake.  We got Jade a few months after Clark died.  For Shawn.  She picked Jade's breed from an American Kennel Club (AKC) book of dogs we had.  She thought the breed, West Highland White Terrier..Westie for short, was cute. Hey, she was 11 years old. Brian wanted a beagle.  I wanted a Portugeuse Water Dog. Yes I knew about them before the Obama family.  So there!  Lol. We found a breeder in Howell and went and bought this little white ball of fluff.  

One of my favorite Jade stories involves Jade, mom and dad.  Jade is home with my parents while Brian, Shawn and I are out. Dad is in the basement listen to his radio.  Mom gets locked in the bathroom. Now this has never happened before and no one has ever gotten locked in the bathroom since.  Mom starts yelling. The only one who hears her is Jade.  Jade runs down to the basement and started barking at dad. He's like what the heck?  He calls Jade over to pet her, but she continues to bark and running up and down the stairs. Dad eventually gets that Jade is trying to get him to go upstairs. When dad goes up stairs he hears mom hollering and gets her out. Jade saved the day!!!  

Doug E. Fresh, "The Show". You see, mom and Jade had a special bond.  Mom was Jade's never ending supply of Cheetoes. Rofl. We think Jade thought she'd never get anymore Cheetoes if she didn't get mom out of the bathroom. Well of course Jade was rewarded with Cheetoes when mom emerged. Lol. My mom bought bags of Cheetoes specifically for Jade.  And we'd better not touch it!  Lol. 

Jade was also quite a comfort to me while I sick. She'd jump up on my lap and we'd just relax or nap. When I came home from the hospital, she'd lay near me. She liked being loved and we loved to love her. :-)  She started failing the last 8 months or so.  The last 2 weeks the labored breathing accelerated.   In addition, she had glaucoma and she really couldn't see. Brian thinks she could differentiate between light and dark. She navigated the house pretty well.  She wouldn't go up stairs, but she'd go down. Go figure. She eventually would get disoriented, her breathing was labored and she was listless.  It came down to quality of life. We had to make a decision.  It was decision made out of love.  Oh what was the problem?  She had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which affected her lungs.  It's also known as Westie Lumg Disease and there is no cure. 

Kem, "You're On My Mind".  Well yes, Jade is on my mind, as are the rest of my dogs. Love them all. Have great memories of all of them.  I'll miss my food vacuum cleaner.  I'll miss trying to step over Jade  while she moves to where I'm trying to go.  I'll miss her raising hell because the mailman had the audacity to come on her porch.  I'll miss playing share with her at bedtime. She never shared her toy. Lol. She'd fuss at me for even trying. Lol. I'll miss my "talky" dog. She started giving us lip as a puppy and never stopped talking to/at us. I'll miss her stealing Shawn's socks. She'd grab a sock and walked away nonchalantly like we couldn't see her.  Rofl. 

We love our dogs. :-)  Signing off with Roy Ayes, "You Send Me". Yes, I know.  Blame random shuffle. I have 500 songs and yet...   Have a great weekend. Enjoy Easter Eggs.  :)