Goodbye, Mitzi

Way back in the fall of 1998, I met my future husband.  The first time I went to his house to watch some movies with him and his cousins, I walked up to the door and a cute little dog greeted me.  Her name was Mitzi.  I was later told that it was so weird that Mitzi didn't bark at me, because she barked at all strangers.  (I guess she knew I was good people and would be around for a while before I even did. ha!)  Growing up I had always wanted a dog.  I think I was even convinced that the neighbor's dog was mine and always tried to pet it through the fence.  So when I moved in with my husband and Mitzi in 1999, I got the dog I always wanted.  She was such a well-behaved dog and so super-smart!  I know Labs and Golden Retrievers are supposed to be so very smart and little dogs not so much, but I'm telling you...our little Mitzi was smart!

A few years later we got married and moved to Texas, and ended up getting some cats and a miniature pinscher along the way.  Mitzi was still the loyal, sweet dog she had always been.  She was the best at what Michael called "regulating" the cats...meaning she would bark and growl at them and chase them off. Not really a game I approved of, but then I got her to "regulate" Michael, so that was kind of sweet revenge for my cats!

When we lived at the lake, there was a wild, mean cat who was raping my poor cat...and Mitzi treed that bad cat and rescued my kitty!  She always got along with new animals we brought home for the most part, and I even have several pictures of her napping with cats.  :)

She was the best traveling dog...she would lay down and just chill out in car rides.  My min pin does anything but! Mitzi even used to ride around on a motorcycle with Michael (before I met him...truly man's best friend).

The past few years of her life we watched her slowly weaken.  She started sleeping more.  One day she stopped going up the stairs.  She didn't run around as much anymore.  She'd only go outside to go to the bathroom, not spend hours basking in the sun like she used to.  Then she started to become incontinent and finally last weekend, her back legs quit working for her altogether.  That's when we decided it was time to say goodbye.  I don't know if it would have been a little easier if she would have just died in her sleep, because making the decision to end her life for her was rough.  But it really was the best thing for her.  She was suffering and her quality of life would not be good without the use of her legs.  So it has been a rough week in our household.  She was my first dog.  She was my husband's best friend for a very, very long time. 

1997-2012