Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

I chose today to share this tribute video because April 21^st is Libby’s birthday.  She would have been 11 years old.

The sadness of her passing still hangs on.  She was our pack leader, which I know goes against the grain for dog trainers, but that’s how we rolled. 

She would look me in the eyes then glance at her treat jar when she wanted a snack.  She would lie in the back hall and give out a little whimper.  When I would check on her she would again look me in the eyes then look up at her harness hanging on the wall because she wanted to go for a walk.  She was so very smart.

There’s so much I miss about her.  Over the last few months, when she wanted to be let in she would bark as usual.  I would go to let her in and she’d be 15 feet away from the door, standing there.  At first I thought she wanted a running start into the house but once I opened the door, she would look at me and lay down as if to say “Mom, will you stand there and watch me while I relax here on the sidewalk?” It was so quirky of her and she would just lie there as long as I stood and watched but the minute I would walk away she’d be right at the door barking to get in. Silly girl.

I miss cooking for her.  She was so enthusiastic about meal time.  That’s the hardest thing for me, just seeing one feeding bowl now instead of two.  Bret misses her slobbering on his pants at the breakfast table every morning.  She loved toast. He always cut up his slice and shared bits of it with her. It was hard to hide anything from her too.  The sound of the cheese drawer opening or a Ziploc bag being opened brought her right to my side in the kitchen.

I miss kissing her snout and calling her sweetpea and the half a dozen other nicknames we had for her.

I miss playing with her. Before she became a tripawd I used to chase her around the kitchen table.  She’d have her ball in her mouth and we’d go round and round, sometimes doubling back to catch her but it never fooled her…she was always too quick. I'm going to miss tossing her the ball in the pool.  She was so entertaining.

She went on vacations with us and loved to go “bye-bye”.  She insisted on riding shot gun so I ended up in the back seat a lot!  If I stayed in the front she would climb from the back, on to my lap and rest her head on the dashboard. She was so smart we had to spell things.  We couldn’t say the word “walk” without her getting all excited so we had to say it backwards “klaw” until she caught on to that word too!  We ended up saying “she wants to go for a you-know-what”.  She wanted to go walking no matter what the weather and Bret did it.  He always said, even before her diagnosis, “The dogs aren’t here on earth that long and I want to make the most of our time with them.”  No regrets.

I could go on and on (which it looks like I already have) but I will stop for now.  Thank you for taking the time to read a few of my memories of our girl.  Thank you for always being here for me, then and now.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Sweetpea.

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