Wednesday morning, January 23, 2013, our sweet Joey passed away. He was the best boy. He had this ability to smile. Apparently, smiling is something many Dalmatians do. But Joey was our first smiling Dalmatian.

Joey had a heart condition. I had been taking him to the vet almost daily lately, and last week I took him to a vet cardiologist. There just wasn’t anything more they could do for him. The worst thing is that he died right in front of me. We had been up with him since 3 am. He just couldn’t get enough air. I was getting dressed to take him to the vet when he came up the stairs as if to say goodbye to me. Then he fell over and died. I thank God that he spared us having to make the final decision about Joey. Our vet suspects he had a blood clot or a stroke or both.

We have had five Dalmatians over the years. While they all have been special, Joey was particularly so. He gave us so much love. I just hope he knew how much we loved him.

— Judy from St. Louis, MO