Dixie

I mentioned in my last post that we had adopted another dog.

A few short weeks after losing our second dog, I realized I was just miserable without a dog. Who would have thought?  I really thought having no dogs to tie me down would be liberating, but I was wrong.
After losing my dad in April and both dogs not long after that, I was experiencing a huge sense of loss and depression.
Nick convinced me to go on and look for another dog.
We started at the Tacoma Animal Shelter which just made me cry. We walked through that place the first time and I felt so sad looking at those dogs without homes.
To make a long story a little shorter, a few weeks after our first visit, we saw this little dog who wasn't barking and looked so sweet. I had already decided I'd like to have another dachshund and she was it.
After inquiring about this little dog, I found out she wasn't available yet because she was awaiting a teeth cleaning. I followed up on her for a full week and as soon as I found out she was finally available, I grabbed Nick and we flew over to the shelter to get her.
I have enjoyed this sweet little dog and have loved watching her come out of her shell as she's gotten more comfortable with us.
Here are a few photos of Miss Dixie.

This was taken the day we brought her home.

I took her to the groomer to have her trimmed up since I know NOTHING about a long haired dachshund, and they put this bow in her hair. (Nick HATED that) She kept it in about an hour and then it was gone. How cute is she?

This is where she is most of the time. On back of one of the couches in the house. She can see out the window that way and is the queen of the house.

I have enjoyed this little dog so much. It's amazing that I was able to rescue her but she has given me so much in return.

Cleo

I know it's been a very long time since I've been around. It's been a rough few months for me.

Three weeks to the day after losing our lab, Max, we lost our little sassy Dachshund, Cleo. 

I have to say, after losing my dad in April, losing Max in August, having that second dog die was almost more than I could take.

I'll back up a little and give more information.

Max was put to sleep on a Sunday night in August. One week later, Cleo started coughing. I couldn't imagine that she would have kennel cough, because she just had not been exposed. I made an appointment at our vet's office and after two sleepless nights of her coughing, I took her in.

I knew Cleo had a heart murmur, it had been diagnosed about a year or two ago. The vet tells me that with the heart valve not quite closing, she was probably getting a little fluid in her chest and put her on a diuretic to help relieve that fluid. He told me to give her a half pill twice a day. We did that and she stopped coughing!

Two weeks later, she started coughing again. Sunday night...once again. I was up with her during the night because she was very restless. It wasn't like before when she would cough and just lie back down and go to sleep. This time, every time she coughed, she would move to another place to try to sleep. Finally, at 1:00 a.m. I was exhausted and went upstairs and left her in the living room to roam. She followed me up in about 20 minutes. At around 2:00 a.m. I heard her go under our bed and start wheezing.

Nick awakened at that point and asked about her. I told him the story and we went looking for her under our bed. She had found a duffel bag Nick had stored under there and made it her bed. When we pulled the bag out from under the bed, she was lifeless and her breathing had a gurgling sound. She had pooped herself and I knew then, we were close to the end.

Nick picked her up and she was so limp. I wrapped her in towels, took her collar off and we loaded her into the car.

I was hysterical, I won't lie. I was truly wailing and thinking of having to call my sweet daughter away at school and tell her about her puppy.

I sat in the back seat with her as she took her last breaths just a few minutes later. We arrived at the vet clinic so they could confirm she was gone and left her there to have her remains cremated and scattered on the mountain with Max and the other beloved pets lost.

I thought it would be liberating to have no pets for a while, but it's been just awful. I need someone to get up in the morning and take care of. I need someone to greet me and need me when I get home. Nick will be deploying again in the next few months and I truly can't see doing this alone.

So, I we did adopt another dog. I will write more about her later. Today's post is about this dog.

She was a sassy little dog that drove me crazy. But she had great personality.

The day she stopped breathing she had a wonderful time. She had a walk, a bath, and a steak bone after our dinner. We started spoiling her quite a bit after we lost Max.

I will miss this silly, barking little dog.