One Baby for Another...

Since I didn't keep up with the blog in 2012 many of you are unaware that our dog Buddy was diagnosed with cancer. It was easy to ignore at first because he continued to play with his toys, eat normally, and run out in the yard with our other dog, Annie. Recently Buddy has taken an extreme turn for the worse and we are in the process of deciding to let him go naturally or take him to the vet.

This is possibly the hardest decision I have ever had to make. Buddy is like my first born child. I adopted him when Geno and I first got engaged and Geno was living/working in Arkansas as an apprentice for a wood-fired potter there. I wasn't used to living alone and needed a "buddy" to keep me company while Geno was away. I was going back and forth on getting a dog since our apartment complex didn't allow them and I would have to hide it so we didn't get kicked out. Then my mom calls one day and tells me about this Chihuahua that a co-worker of my sister Kelly's was trying to find a home for. He was living at an in-home "rescue" with about 30 cats and many dogs as well. He only weighed 7 lbs., so he was more or less bullied and the cats were crawling on top of him and peeing on him. I didn't see the conditions that he was living in, but my mom and Kelly said that it was so horrible that when they brought him home they had to remove their clothes so they wouldn't bring fleas into the house.

I was living about 4 hours from my family at the time, so I met my mom half way to pick him up. They had given him a bath, but his skin was still black from the flea dander and he was very skiddish. I couldn't go to pick him up very quickly or he would duck to the ground like I was going to hit him. I instantly fell in love. He was the sweetest dog to me and Geno and very protective of us around others. He actually jumped off our bed once to bite someone who he thought was too close to us. Since he was just seven pounds and really couldn't do much damage we always had to laugh when he did things like this. He thought he was rottweiler, not a little Chihuahua.

Eventually the flea dander went away, his coat got thicker and softer and he gained 3 lbs. Yes, he went from 7 to 10 lbs. What can I say, he is definitely mine and Geno's dog and we love to eat. From the day we got him he went with us almost everywhere. Geno would even carry him into stores and it would drive me nuts. I didn't want to be one of those people who has a little Chihuahua they take everywhere. It seemed too Paris Hilton.

Geno with Buddy and Annie

 We just became so attached. He was with us on our journey to Tennessee when we made our first attempt at graduate school. He then moved with us to Yellow Springs where Geno began his art career and our lives together really started. He was with us as we purchased our first home and for the first time he was not crated while we were at work. He was able to roam free all day!

Celebrating Geno's Birthday

He LOVED the heater!

Over the last year we watched our Buddy fade. He went from a feisty little guy who thought he could take on dogs 10 times his size to barely being able to walk on his own. We have been the best doggie parents we know how to be. We have spent every dollar necessary to keep him healthy and happy. When he quit eating on his own we spoon fed him. When he quit drinking, we gave him water through a syringe. When he started having trouble walking, we lifted him up and down on and off of furniture and carried him outside to use the restroom.

A typical day, pre cancer. Just hangin' out

In the last couple of days Buddy has stopped taking his meds and he will no longer eat. When you get a pet you know that this day will come, but you try not to think about it and enjoy the happiness they bring to your life. Buddy has been our world. Even when we added Annie, our second dog, to the family Buddy always came first. When we could play with him and love him he was the best because he was so soft and squishy it was hard not to want to squeeze him all the time.

Skinny little Buddy just a few weeks ago

I suppose it's time to move on... We have our first real baby on the way and while maybe it is just a coincidence that we are losing our first "child" just a couple of months before having our first "real" baby maybe it is best this way.