Walt's Corner

Note: Though this post appears to be a new one, it is not. With the passing of Abby, our 17-year-old Cockapoo, I’m putting together her eulogy and discovered that somehow Dolly’s had disappeared. Luckily, I kept a text version of it and I’m re-posting it here but I have no way of putting it where it belongs chronologically. This would have been originally posted January 19, 2024. I still miss her like crazy.

It was with a sad and broken heart that we decided to put our Dolly-girl down. A long-haired Chihuahua and rescue dog.

This morning was the first of forever where I won’t look up from the dining room island and be startled to see see 2 beady black eyes staring at me, as if saying, “Yo. Bitch. Where’s my dental dental treat?” Because that started every morning. We are creatures of habit, dogs included. Recently, in her old age, she would forget that she already got up and had one. Then she would act like we were withholding treats from her. Stare at us and low-growl.

We got her when she was 4 years old. She started life as a stray, ended up in an animal shelter, then transferred to a foster home, and that is how she ended up in our family. We had just bought our house and were looking for a small dog. The foster family volunteered their time to assist in adopting out dogs from places like PetSmart – which is where I found her. She must have been with that family for a little while, because the kids were sad to see her adopted. One was crying. The Mother tearfully gave her a last hug and called her “Monkey.” That was what they called her. I made it a point to call her that every so often. Just to keep the name familiar to her, and possibly (hopefully) remind her of the interim family she had.

The lady warned us. She’ll try to escape. She’s a regular Houdini. Cages can’t keep her in. She’ll get through/over/under your wall gates. Sure enough. She did all the above. She was the master at escaping crates. She could bend them and wiggle her way out. She could leap over gates. I ended up having to zip tie all the sides of a crate together to keep her from escaping. She tried to run out the front door every opportunity she had.

Once, she ran down the road with a pair of my underwear wrapped around her head. Eventually the crate was no longer needed and her escape attempts became passive.
She enjoyed our “leftover” taco we saved for her every Friday night we ate at Gil’s. She could drool upon command when I would tell her, “Today’s Friday, gurrrrrl! You know what that means! We’re gonna go to Gil’s tonight and bring you back a taco!” To this day I still refer to it as Gil’s because, well, the girls just wouldn’t understand the name change. As Dolly gained her sisters over the years, that taco had to be split 3 ways.

She especially enjoyed camping and hiking up in the Lincoln National Forest, near Cloudcroft, NM. The cool temperatures, green grass, and trees would rejuvenate her old soul and she would run and gallop through the grassy meadows as if she were 10 years younger. But then she would sleep for hours.

We almost lost her a few years ago but pulling a bunch of teeth saved her life that time. Weird how dental hygiene affects overall health. We got 4 more years out of her than I expected to.
By this year, she had gone mostly deaf. Cataracts had taken all but blurs and shadows from her vision. Just this week she was no longer able to get around on her own power. Up until the end, she suffered no pain that was apparent to us. As she became less mobile and the more we had to pick her up for placement, the more it was becoming painful for her.

It is said that our Best Friends lives are but a part of ours, but we are their whole life. Our OG, Original Girl, will be sorely missed but never forgotten. She left this world with her little head in my hand, which became just a little heavier as she went.

Who’s a good girl?