My Libby Dog

 Today would have been Libby's "Gotcha Day". I still remember driving out to the country to look at puppies that day. She was the smallest of all the girls in her litter and so calm and snuggly. While the other girls in her litter were trying to eat our shoe strings, she just sat there calmly and let us hold her and pet her. She was always such a calm and sweet dog but she had a spunky side too. We would take her to the dog park and she just loved playing with other dogs. She was always the first one to welcome any new dog that would come in to the park. She was maybe even a little over-bearing at times. Ha.

She loved to chew holes in our pillows, blankets and rugs. She even chewed holes in my curtains once. She destroyed every dog bed we ever bought and chew toys didn't stand a chance. Even in the last 2 weeks or so of her life she chewed up the rugs in our bathroom. She was such a sweet dog though and so good with the kids. I never once ever had to worry about her with the kids. She just let them crawl all over her and didn't hardly bat an eye. Even when she could get up and move away from them, she just laid there.

She was my first baby. The first dog I ever got for myself. She wasn't a family dog, she was my dog. She was my side-kick. We took her everywhere we went and she loved it. She loved to swim and play outside, go for walks and she loved to eat. She would eat until she threw up if you let her. Ha. She was the sweetest dog I've ever known and I miss her so much.

 I never really wrote a post about her passing. It was hard to write it when it happened and anytime after that just didn't feel right either. So a year later, I thought it would be nice to remember her on what was her Gotcha Day!

She unfortunately had a lot of health problems early on and they just continued to get worse for her. She always had bad ear infections, which I finally figured out was a wheat and grain allergy. It took a long time to figure it out and many failed attempts to fix it at the vet. Out of desperation, I researched cures for ear infections in dogs and found a food that was wheat and grain free. It was pricey but worth a shot. It was the best thing and cleared her ears right up. Later in her life she got arthritis in her back legs, which made it hard for her to walk. It was a slow progression, but it just got worse as time went on. Then when she was around 7 years old, we found out she had diabetes. So for the last 2-3 years or so of her life we had to give her 2 insulin shots a day. She took it like a champ though and never complained. 

 

Then, a month or so before we had to put her to sleep we found a large sore on her back. At least that's what I thought it was. Turns out, it was an "unfriendly" tumor (that's how the vet referred to it). With all the other medical problems she had, we decided it was just best to put her to sleep. The surgery to remove the tumor would have been costly and it wasn't a for sure thing that it would have helped anyways. It was getting harder and harder for her to get around with her arthritis and we just didn't want to put her through surgery. So on May 18th, 2015 at the young age of 10 years old, we made the very hard decision to say good-bye to our precious Libby.



It was tough. Harder than I even thought it would be. Telling Jackson made it even harder. He was 3 and didn't really understand. Avery had just turned one and was too young to know any different, thankfully! It took a few days before I could really even talk about it without tearing up, but thankfully we can look back on it now and know we made the right decision.

Libby was the sweetest, most loving and gentle dog I've ever known. We miss her and love to think back on the good times with our Libby Girl. She is missed every day, but especially today.