We Will Miss Our "Doggie"!!

A week after we moved into the apartment, we had to say goodbye to our beloved "doggie", Tuffy. We had a great 10 1/2 years with our buddy and he will be greatly missed! For those of you who don't know Tuffy's history, we adopted Tuffy on my 21st bday, but I bought him for Kyle. Tuffy was from a puppy mill in Jefferson County that had rescued 80 other schnauzers. They were guessing that he was about 3 years old based on his teeth. When we picked Tuffy out he had a cone on his head from his surgery and had never had a haircut- he had long curly gray hair. We would go to pet him and he'd run in another corner, afraid of us. I convinced Kyle (against all the guidelines on how to adopt a pet) that he was going to come around and be the perfect dog. I just knew that he would get along with cats, even though he had never seen a cat, never been potty trained, never been on a car ride until he was rescued, and had never been cared for. I don't know why I thought that, but luckily I was right. It took him about a month to warm up to Kyle. Everytime Kyle would come home from work "his dog" would run under the dining room table. Kyle would say, "He's afraid of me" or "When do you think he's going to like me?"...Kyle was patient and after that first month- they then became inseparable. I would jokingly (kind of) say, "You love that dog more than me!" He slept with him under his arm everynight and would brag to his friends how great he smelt after he was groomed! That month of adjustment seems like eons ago! He had come so far!

Up until we had the twins he didn't care for kids. He was afraid of them, they moved to fast and the vets said that since he had never been around them, he didn't know what they were and to him they were a threat, another kind of "dog". Whenever kids around the house would come up to him and pet him we would be right there making sure he felt safe while the kids pet him. When the twins were born, we didn't know what would happen. We were pleasantly surprised how quickly he adjusted- he knew they were part of the family and that he had somewhat "fallen" down the totem pole. He had snapped at Blake a few times- he didn't like Blake trying to pull his head and he was very sensitive on his sides. Otherwise, he was very tolerant of 2 crazy boys constantly following him like a dog on their hands and knees or waking him up from his naps in his chair. They loved the "doggie"!

On St. Patrick's Day Tuffy woke up in the middle of the night getting sick and was unable to walk, he looked dizzy was unable to keep his balance. We thought we were going to have to say goodbye then, but the vet was fairly confident that he had a bad case of "geriatric vestibular syndrome" AKA "vertigo" (apparently, older dogs commonly get). The vet told us that his blood work looked great for a 13 +/- dog and that he should be better in a few days. Well, he did get better, but not completely better. Throughout the next week he was able to walk, he leaned to the right and frequently did circles outside trying to get his balance or often fall. He was unable to jump in his favorite chair and had trouble seeing his food and water. We talked to the vet 1-2 times a week discussing his progress and prognosis. His progress had plateaued after 2 1/2 weeks, the vets then determined it was either a brain tumor and brain cancer affecting his right side and that it was only a matter of time before he had another episode or something else happened. We didn't want to wait until he got so sick and cause him more pain. He had given our family many memories and will be sorely missed. We miss hearing the boys say "doggie" 100+ times a day, chasing him, letting him out of his cage after returning from trips and I will miss my little dirt devil that cleaned up during and after the boys' meals. He will be irreplaceable and unforgotten. Tuffy was an example of how a rescued animal, no matter how old, can change and make a great compainon and loving pet. We love you buddy!