Yes, she was only 12 miles up the road at University of Tennessee.
Yes, she came home on the weekends to do laundry.
Yes, she'd call me sometimes while walking to her classes.
(...and, yes, I missed her so bad I could hardly stand it, but I'd never admit that to her.)
For 15 1/2 years, Dobie was a part of our family. He knew us so well that he had us figured out! He knew our schedule! This dog wouldn't even stand up from his bed, stretch and yawn prior to going out for his morning constitutional until he heard Joe putting his keys in his pocket! Dobie had his own little routine, as well!
Over time, this lively little guy settled into a more quiet lifestyle. Dobie loved to be next to us in a chair or on the sofa. He didn't actually sit on our laps much - unless he was riding in the car. And he didn't particularly like riding in a car, but the Valium prescription the vet gave us made trips a lot easier.
We lived in Alcoa, then Cleveland (TN), Kingsport, and finally in Maryville. Dobie adjusted well to each house but the last one. By the time we moved to Maxwell Lane, he couldn't see much and his hearing was rapidly diminishing. Seizures started to occur a lot more often, and the last two seemed to really mess him up. Our little guy's life had been much more difficult these last several months and we knew it was just a matter of time. When he would just stand in the middle of a room, not understanding/seeing where he was, we would move one of his little beds nearby and help him into it. He'd curl up and sleep for hours. He stopped eating, pretty much stopped drinking...and I think he was trying to tell us it was time to say goodbye.
Joe and I were in the car driving to a funeral on Saturday when I suggested maybe we needed to make the final arrangements for Dobie. He said that he'd been feeling that same way all morning. So we did it...
Sunday night, I gave him a bath and washed his blanket. On Monday, Joe and I took Dobie to his former veterinarian in Kingsport, Dr. Gary Andes, and signed papers for euthanasia. Gary was so kind and gentle with him - and with us, knowing we were hearbroken to do this. Then we took Dobie's body to Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Home where our nephew Jacob and his friend Steve Britt, carefully took care of our little guy. (The funeral home has a cremation service for pets - dignity and kindness for our sweet Dobie.)
I placed his frog leg (remnants of his very first toy from our dear friend Sue Martin) in his front paws, then wrapped Dobie in his favorite yellow blanket and said goodbye. And now we have a beautiful little wooden box with his cremains to remember him.
He's a dog! But it was heartbreaking to let him go! He was our fur-baby! I don't like goodbyes anyway, but this one was pretty tough. Dobie had a good life and he knew he was loved...even to the end.
He was the best dog we ever had...the smartest and healthiest...and still had all his teeth! He gave us a lot of joy and unconditional love, and we're grateful. Let me leave you with a few shots of this sweet baby-dog...
