I haven't even finished going through all the emotions of losing Jack, or even finished writing it down. And here I am about to tell you about the newest member of our family....Redley! Teeny, our chihuahua has been very sick the last few months. After losing Jack to cancer, Teeny lost himself. Prior to Jack's influence in his life, he kind of didn't do much. Wouldn't go for walks, fussed about what he ate if anything. He just was kind of there. Which at the time was probably good since Carol (my partner) was still going through some rough spots with her divorce. He would curl up with her in bed and just keep her company during the day while the kids were at school. When we met, I laughed because I would get to the beach with Jack, and Teeny would just be standing there, off leash, looking at Carol like, "What am I supposed to do now?" Anyway, long story short, he quickly learned to follow and outrun Jack to the ball and then follow him back once he picked it up.....since a regular size tennis ball won't fit in Teeny's mouth. Lol.
It's been just about six months since Jack passed away. Teeny started having really bad dreams (and so did I) almost immediately, and they didn't stop until about a month ago. 3 months ago though, he started refusing to eat or walk at all. The only time he would was with Napoleon (my mom's french bulldog) who was a part of the pack with Jack. Since Napoleon isn't here all the time, it wasn't helping much. We finally had to take him to the vet when it got so bad that he couldn't even make it outside before having diarrhea. It was awful. Poor little guy.
So for 3 months now, Teeny has been on steroids, anti-biotics, and stomach medicine. We think he had some food allergies before hand (hence the pickiness before Jack was around). Losing Jack just amplified it greatly. We were told he would probably need them long term. So that solved the food issue.....but he still refused to walk or run any more and he started losing muscle and couldn't even get on the couch without help. It was time to make a tough decision.....
I'm still not anywhere near over losing Jack. I'm not sure I ever will be. I loved him so much and still do. It's so hard. But I care very much about Teeny and it was making it worse for me to see him suffer. I figured looking for a dog didn't mean I would find one. But you know damn well I did.
I won't go into details because I will probably write them later. It was the perfect situation for everyone. Redley is a pit, boxer, retriever mix. He's a little over a year and a joy to be around. He's handsome and smart and best of all......Teeny loves him :) Bug's is really, really mad at me but I think they will learn to be okay with each other just like he and Jack did, but it's gonna take some time.
In the mean time, Teeny is doing great. And so are we :) More soon!
It's been just about six months since Jack passed away. Teeny started having really bad dreams (and so did I) almost immediately, and they didn't stop until about a month ago. 3 months ago though, he started refusing to eat or walk at all. The only time he would was with Napoleon (my mom's french bulldog) who was a part of the pack with Jack. Since Napoleon isn't here all the time, it wasn't helping much. We finally had to take him to the vet when it got so bad that he couldn't even make it outside before having diarrhea. It was awful. Poor little guy.
So for 3 months now, Teeny has been on steroids, anti-biotics, and stomach medicine. We think he had some food allergies before hand (hence the pickiness before Jack was around). Losing Jack just amplified it greatly. We were told he would probably need them long term. So that solved the food issue.....but he still refused to walk or run any more and he started losing muscle and couldn't even get on the couch without help. It was time to make a tough decision.....
I'm still not anywhere near over losing Jack. I'm not sure I ever will be. I loved him so much and still do. It's so hard. But I care very much about Teeny and it was making it worse for me to see him suffer. I figured looking for a dog didn't mean I would find one. But you know damn well I did.
I won't go into details because I will probably write them later. It was the perfect situation for everyone. Redley is a pit, boxer, retriever mix. He's a little over a year and a joy to be around. He's handsome and smart and best of all......Teeny loves him :) Bug's is really, really mad at me but I think they will learn to be okay with each other just like he and Jack did, but it's gonna take some time.
In the mean time, Teeny is doing great. And so are we :) More soon!
