Our dog Surge passed away 2 years ago coming 1/16/14 at the age of 14.  He was a sheltie.  The most loyal, loving, beautiful dog ever.  I am sure everybody says that about their dog but he truly was.  He barked a lot in his younger years. Barked when anybody came into the house and left the house, barked at the  phone, barked at leaves blowing in the air.  As he got older he became deaf and was going blind.  As my husband says “pet ownership never ends well”.  That is an understatement.  He is missed everyday.  Today we are caring for our son’s dog Monster. Named Monster because his birthday is 10/31.  He will be 5 years old.  He is a mixed breed.  We love  him very much.  A great dog. A protective dog who loves our company.  We think we may have to keep him when our son moves out.

— Kerri from Montclair, NJ

On January 2, 2013 we had to say goodbye to our female rough coat collie Maui.

She was a rescue. We got her as a companion for our then young male rough coat collie Buddy.   We went to the Providence Animal Rescue to look at some dogs we had seen online.  I hoped to find another collie but didn’t think it was going to happen.   As we walked through the doors there was a couple with a rough coat collie they were giving up due to a move.  They told us her name was Maui.  She was a 4 year female rough coat collie, just what I’d hope for!  After introducing the 2 dogs we took her home.

She was afraid of the car and didn’t want to get in, after putting her in the car she shook all the way home!  She had other curious behaviors.  We have 6 stairs going up to our living room.  Before she could go up or down those stairs she had to perform at least 1 circle sometimes 2 or 3!  Whenever she left the kitchen, her favorite room in the house because it contained cheese, she had to walk out backwards!  Even if she was facing the right way she’d make a 1/2 circle point her rear end at the door and start walking backwards until she got into the hallway where she’d turn and walk right!  She was a very good dog that liked human company more than canine, which was unfortunate considering why we got her in the face place.   She got over her fear of the car after a few trips to the dog park.  She loved to be able to run free which she could do in a 4 acre dog park!   When asked if she wanted to go to the dog park she’d blot to the car and sit there waiting to be let in.   She never got over her circles or backwards exits.  The last few weeks she was so disorientated that we had to lead her of the kitchen out on a leash.

Maui and Buddy would lay down in the in front yard in the same position kind of back to back, we called them our collie bookends.  Buddy just stopped looking for Maui this week.  He must miss her more than we do.  We’d like to get another older dog for Buddy who is 10 years old now but we just can’t afford 4 dogs anymore.  We also have 2 small terriers a Yorki and a mix, the mix is a rescue with more energy than the sun!

As hard as it is to say goodbye I wouldn’t trade those times and memories for anything!

— Jordan from Hope Valley, RI

I just wanted to tell you a story about my little girl, a shelty shepard mix.  Her name is Pearl and she was a throw away.  A little over a year ago my youngest daughter almost hit a box on her way to high school, as she approched it she saw it move, she pulled to the shoulder of the road and checked the box and found a little puppy inside covered in oil.  She brought it to me and we have been so blessed with her love and devotion.  As a Jew I believe G-d smiles on those that help the difenceless and she was just that.

— James from Asheboro, NC

Hokey-Pokey

The latest spirit in our frayed family sneaked in on little cat paws.  Pokey was rescued from an abandoned barn, and was two-plus pounds of fluff.  The idea was to keep him at the farm where my daughter boarded a horse, but all was not well with Pokey.

Or me, either. At 59, I had lost my senior human resources job, was helping a dying aunt who had no children, and looking for my next job.  Not exactly the perfect conditions to welcome another lost soul — but who can resist a tiny cat with six toes, a white bib and serious medical issues?

Three years later, Pokey has gained ten pounds, despite seizures, a low thyroid and significant plumbing problems.  Daily, we shoot meds down his little kitty gullet.  Consequently, he is relatively healthy, but vulnerable.  Thanks to our vet, some feline specialists have consulted free of charge, as our cat is such a rare case. As one vet mused, “What if the Hokey Pokey is really what it’s all about?”

— Georgian from Wallingford, CT

My Blue Healer got ran over by a car she was just a pup 6 months old . This was my wife’s and my first fur kid in 2000. She worked as a firefighter and a EMT/IV tech at a chemical plant. She told all the guys at the fire Dept. how upset and sad I was ….One night they called me and told me to come to the plant they said they had something for me. I showed up and low and behold in the floor of their kitchen out crawled a basset hound pup out of a dog food bag…he tripped on his ears. I named him Jack after a friend.he was my best friend.then in Aug. 2012 he was diagnosed with cancer ( Interoperable ) The vet said he only had about a month to live . he was born on Nov.25th I prayed he would make it to see his 12th birth day . With cortisone and prayer he did he was happy and played. He  got up on the morning of DEC. 6 and was was in server pain so we made a final trip to the vet…..I couldn’t let my little buddy suffer . He was the best dog that ever owned me.

— Charlie from Fall Branch, TN

We recently had to put our baby girl Scout to sleep when we found out that she had abdominal lymphoma. She had been throwing up and having diarrhea for a couple of months and after $2,000 in vet bills, the ultrasound showed the cancer in her stomach and intestines. They were going to evaluate her for chemo but she was in so much pain and discomfort that we concluded it was time to give her some peace. It was the hardest thing my wife and I have ever had to do and almost a month later we both still cry almost every day when we think about her. She would have been four on 9/11/13 but died three weeks before her birthday. May she rest in peace.

— Lou from Spokane, WA