I wanted to send this out to our family and to those friends who love pets, and have heard about Pebbles through the years. Pebbles was put to sleep this morning as Janna held her in her arms at the vet’s office.

Janna bought Pebbles when she was just weeks old in 1995, (she was all white then, as Dalmatians get their spots later.) I flew down a while later and got acquainted with that wonderful dog, so gentle, loving, enthusiastic. Janna hadn’t married at that time, and while Janna was working, Pebbles and I spent the few days alone to take walks, eat, and sit quietly in the living room while she and I both rested in front of the TV in beautiful Florida.

The movie “101 Dalmatians” was out in the theaters, and wherever we walked, parents would stop with their children, cars would slow down, and children would be hanging out the windows saying “hi” or waving to Pebbles. All through her life, she was like that…she was so beautiful.

Later in the 90’s, Janna’s condo (which had allowed dogs)…had experienced a serial rapist in the building….affecting a lot of young women. (I even saw this on CNN one day when I was at home in Maryland.) Janna and her friend, Andrea, were going to break their leases and move. She couldn’t find a condo or apartment that would take dogs and asked if Dad and I would take her to live with us for a while during this chaotic time.

We went out to Reagan National Airport and picked up Pebbles who was in a large crate..and shaking so hard. (We don’t recommend shipping animals this way.) When Don saw her for the first time, he said, “I didn’t know we were getting a pony!” After Don broke down the crate and put it in our trunk, Pebbles took a nap on her way to Maryland and her new home. We lived on the Chesapeake Bay then, and Pebbles loved it…she would run on the beautiful green grass that led down to the cliff overlooking the bay. Don always thought she looked like a floating gazelle with her black and white spots against the beautiful green rolling hills.

She had a lot of fun there. I remember she would go down to the edge of the bay dropoff, in a lot of trees and bushes, and bring us a turtle the size of her mouth, we could only see the slits of the turtles’ legs. Don would pry Pebbles’ mouth open…go down and “hide” the turtle again….but there was no way that Pebbles would forget…because she would bring that same turtle up again…and Don would do the same thing again! (Poor turtle!)

One summer Danna’s and Jay’s family came up, and we went down the path to the shore of the bay. The kids loved playing with Pebbles as the waves came in. We’ve got wonderful pictures of those good times.

We kept Pebbles for two years in Maryland, and also for one year after we retired and moved to Georgia. Even as Pebbles aged, she still had a “young dog” look. If you looked closely though, you could see where more white was moving into the black spots. Actually Pebbles was a rarer breed, and had liver-colored spots, and her mother had done commercials for TV, portraying a “smiling” dog. Pebbles also could “smile”, especially when she was being scolded. (But that wasn’t often.) We have always called her a “Christian” dog, so amiable around people, children. They could hug her around her neck, pet her, hold on to her tail, and she would take it all. However, you might find her crouched in a corner somewhere at times if there were a lot of children in the house and she wanted to have some quiet rest. Her lethal weapon was her long tail…nothing but muscle….and even though she was happy to see you…her tail could actually hurt a little!

Pebbles hasn’t been well for a few weeks, and when Janna heard she had mammary gland cancer, she decided that an operation would take place. Janna had carried insurance for a long while on her and it wouldn’t cost so much. But to Janna’s dismay, Pebbles quit eating and would be so weak she couldn’t get off her bed, her legs wouldn’t hold her up, and she was losing so much weight. Actually Janna carried her today into the vet’s office. The vet couldn’t believe how sick she looked, and so they agreed that Pebbles should be put to sleep. Janna held her the whole time and they inserted the catheter into Pebbles, she relaxed and then her heart stopped.

Janna called her dad and me immediately after that happened, and Don and I have been crying ever since. Janna was crying so hard and we felt so sorry for her. Shane is returning to the vet’s office after work today and picking up Pebble’s body for proper burial.

So, we’re thankful to God for allowing Pebbles to affect all of the Carrolls’ lives, and most of our grandchildren’s lives. We’re sorry that there are three younger ones who didn’t get to know her. Pebbles brought untold joy to us all. She was One Great Dog…and we’ll never forget her!!!

Anita from GA