Miss our Yorkies

My mom had to have her dog put to sleep today. She was a Yorkshire terrier named "Puppy". She never got a name because we hadn't planned on keeping her, but she was a delightful puppy and just couldn't find a worthy home for her. Puppy was an offspring of two of our other Yorkies, Katie and Scooter, I think? We've had tons of Yorkies - Katie, Scooter, Prancer, Dancer, and Puppy - sometimes up to 3 at a time. They have such gentle personalities, and ours had great lives. Once Puppy started getting on in years, Mom would cook a chicken breast for each meal, cut it up in tiny pieces, mix it with dry dog food and let it soak for a bit in the chicken broth to soften it up. Her bed got moved from room to room, depending on where Mom was. And Puppy got carried outside to go to the bathroom (even though she had her own doggie door - the step to the porch was too steep for her to jump - or so my mom thought).

Scooter was so funny. Even though he got a bit of arthritis in his old age, the thing that excited him most was the bi-weekly visit from the trash man. He'd fly like lightning up and down the fenceline whenever the trash truck came through the alley, barking like crazy, "protecting" us from that loud monster, oblivious to his 6-pound stature.

Katie was our very first Yorkie - got her when we moved to Corpus when I started 6th grade. We weren't allowed to have pets in the apartment, so I'd have to carry her downstairs and to the park in my big Coca-Cola beach bag (oh, did I just date myself?!). She was my favorite.

They all lived to be between 13 and 15 years old - a long time for such a tiny breed. They had to put both Puppy and Scooter down due to GI problems. Scooter's kidneys were calcifying and when Puppy started to have the same symptoms, they decided to put her down too. My mom is devastated. She hasn't been without a dog since she was in college. I feel bad for her loss, but have faith that Puppy is in a better place now where she can run and play with the other dogs, and eat something besides bland boiled chicken!