We'll miss you sweet Ivy

This morning started out like many other mornings. I came downstairs to let my two giant 100 lb dogs out of the house. And like any other morning, then went racing out the door to chase whatever they could find.

However...just as my youngest dog, Ivy, ran off the deck she started squealing and turning in circles. I thought something had her at first (or that she had something!). I peered out there, just as the sun was coming up, to see nothing. Just my dog.

I yelled for William to get dressed and hurry up! Something was wrong with Ivy! He came running downstairs and told me to go back upstairs to watch the kids. I gathered the kids up and took them downstairs and plopped them in front of the TV. Outside, it looked grim.

Ivy couldn't move her back legs. At first it was both, and she eventually had limited movement with just one of them. She was quivering, and clearly afraid.

We have one emergency vet in town. It was $90 to walk in the door before 8:00. Since it was 7:15 already, we decided to make sure we went in after 8:00 (when the price dropped to $70). We discussed options before William left. It sounds so cold, but we determined a maximum amount of money we could spend. How do you put a price tag on a living breathing creature that you love and adore? It certainly isn't an easy thing to do, but somehow we made a choice.

William carried Ivy to the car. We let Rebekah say goodbye and explained that she was hurt very badly. She told us to take Ivy to the doctor, because the doctor would make her feel better! We explained that Ivy might not come home. We told her that if Ivy didn't, it was because she went to go live with God.

I got Rebekah and Peter dressed. William called. The prognosis was not good. A disc in her back had ruptured. (She is long and lanky...similar to a common injury that weaner dogs get...) We talked about options. We cried and talked some more. The only sure thing was a $3K surgery. The rest was just piling up money on hopes. These hopes were so slim the doctor wouldn't even give odds on whether they would work or not. We decided to go ahead and put Ivy to sleep, because it was clear she was in much pain. And $3K was much more than the dollar amount we had agreed upon.

After I got off the phone, Rebekah says "Ivy went to live with God?" I told her yes. She then asked if she could go see God. I told her no, but that she could talk to Him. She then said "On the telephone?" I couldn't help but smile at the thought!

Our dear Ivy will be missed...probably most of all by our other dog Solomon. This is the second death he has had to go through. My 14 yr old Dalmatian (who was like his mother) and now Ivy. We actually got Ivy to help keep him company because he seemed so lost without the Dalmatian.

Ivy was 5 years old. We got her from the city pound. She was skinny (her ribs were poking out...you could see her hips she was so malnutritioned). She stunk and didn't mind peeing on herself. But she blossomed into a wonderful dog. She could be annoying (she would bark insistently until you got her whatever it was she wanted!)...but I had JUST commented last weekend to a couple of friends that I had actually started to favor her over my other dog. (I'm ashamed to admit...between the dogs, yes I had favorites!) Ivy was WONDERFUL with the kids. She was gentle and kind. She was a good dog. (OK - she ran away occasionally, killed a cat, and would saunter when you called her...) No dog is perfect I guess...but we loved her all the same.

I'm going to miss her. This has all been so very sudden.

Ivy as a puppy!

Here you can see her ribs...this was taken after we had had her for a few weeks!