Goodbye, Toodles

I know the stated purpose of this blog is to share bits of insight God has shared with me thru His word, but I'm breaking that premise today to share some thoughts about our sweet family dog, Toodles, who left this earth today. Let me say that if you're one of those people who doesn't understand how losing a pet can hurt deeply, please stop reading because I need to write "sappy" and remember her thru my tears.

Toodles came into our family as puppy we "rescued" from the humane society in November 1994. The kids couldn't agree on a name. Stuart wanted Brutus and the girls voted for Holly, some other seasonal girly name or something like Fluffy because at the time she was a fluffy little ball, but when I suggested Toodles, they all agreed! We went there looking for a "lap dog" and at that age, Toddles was. However, it wasn't too long before she was thigh high and close to 50 lbs!

She was such a sweet girl and gave our family much pleasure over the years. We've loved her dearly and I believe she felt that love. As a "youngster" one of her favorite things was chasing rabbits. We have such fun memories of watching her out the windows of our home on Masters Way. She would try to sneak up on the as they came out from under the shed, but somehow they always alluded her. One of the things Toodles I shared - especially at the house on Masters was the love of laying out in the sun! Toodles would bask on the deck while I floated in the pool. Even tho she could have easily walked or jumped into the pool, she never ever did.

When Toodles was younger, she loved to jump up on the bed when I was still in it. David didn't like her doing that and she knew it, so she'd wait until he had left for work - or at least left the room, and then she'd jump up in bed with me and snuggle! Same thing for the couch - she loved to jump up on the couch and lay there with her head in my lap.

Most of her life Toodles was primarily an outside dog. She was only inside when we were home and even then she often wanted to be outside. When we moved to Lexington almost four years ago, that all changed. I know most of that was her age, but even tho we have a fenced in yard, she didn't like being outside here as much. And, she had to climb quite a few steps to get into and out of the yard. So, it seems like she started going downhill since we've been here and has been progressively worse recently. Letting her go was one of the hardest decisions we've had to make, but we know it was the right thing to do for her.

David took her to the vet this morning and then drove her over 2 hours to his brother Winston's house in Glasgow to bury her. It's going to be hard to get used to her not being with us.