Foto Friday-A Bitter Sweet End

Foto (Photo) Friday is a show and tell of pics from the past week.

I know this is quite a few days late.  I was busy with P’s birthday party and just not ready to write this post.  We were getting ready for P’s party, I ran to get pizza, and got a phone call that I needed to come home right away.  I had no idea what the big emergency was and was not even sure their was an emergency.  When I got home sadly Derby had been hurt and was lying on the ground.  I wasn’t sure what had happened.  When I left to go get the pizza Derby had taken off for the neighbors to eat there catfood again.  I guess in the mean time S ran over to bring Derby back home and PJ followed.  At some point, PJ attacked Derby.  The two dogs have been fighting for leader of the pack since P was born.  Sometimes there fights are really nothing and sometimes they can be quite serious.  This time unfortunately was on the very serious side.  Derby had been injured and could not move. We took her to the emergency vet where they did x-rays and an exam.  There were no broken bones, but there was some kind of neurological damage.  You could really see the pain that she was in, and with any improvement highly unlikely we decided to put her down.  The vet said that she would most likely need to see a neurological vet (closest one to us is 2 1/2 hours away), plus MRI’s, and with surgery and rehab, she could learn to go to the bathroom outside if we helped her.  Basically she was a quadriplegic and she could learn to use her limbs a little but we would always have to carry her everywhere.  I don’t mind that but with two small children and B still being on strike, we couldn’t afford to spend all this money and time with no guarantee that it could get any better.

I decided to dedicated this Foto Friday to Derby and all the crazy things she has done over her lifetime of 11 years.

• This is my baby.  The first picture is when Derby was just a baby.  She was the cutest thing ever.  I was so excited to finally get a little dog.  I had wanted one for so long and B happened to stumble upon someone in Anderson’s who had a yorkie.  He met someone in the dog aisle at Anderson’s and got to talking with her.  They had bought Derby with the intention of breeding her.  She had an underbite and was not good for breeding because all of her puppies would have that underbite.  We never wanted to breed Derby so I had no issues with the underbite.  As you see in the second picture because of the underbite she was always smiling.  Yes, those are doggles she is wearing and she would wear them all the time in the car.  As she got older she would hang out where ever we were.  She always found something comfy to sleep on.

• This is not PJ this is Pudge.  Pudge was our first dog and that is how PJ got her name “Pudge Junior.”  Derby and Pudge got along great.  From the minute we brought Derby home they were the best of pals.  They did everything together.  You could always find them cuddling on the couch together.  They both loved to swim in pools, ponds, or lakes.  Yes they both wore their Doggles in the car.  When the windows were down they would each take a window, stick there heads out, and enjoy the wind in there face.  When we lost Pudge in 2009, it took Derby sometime to get used to being an only dog.

• Then there was the love between Derby and Neezer.  While most cats and dogs don’t get along, ours did.  You can see they would sleep together and never think twice about it.  It was just normal in our house.  Derby didn’t really seem to mind too much when we lost Neezer last month.  I think the thing she missed most was eating the cat poop outside.  Gross, I know, but it was what she did.  We tried to stop Derby so many times and we never could.

• Derby was our second baby before we had an actual baby.  We would take her and Pudge everywhere with us.  After we lost Pudge, Derby got to go everywhere.  If I was running to the store and it wasn’t too hot or cold, Derby got to go with us.  Derby went on vacation with us.  Derby sat on the middle arm rest in the car wearing her Doggles along side B.

• My brother got a pug, Rosie, about the same time we got Derby.  They were great little friends.  As you can see they were the perfect size to play tug-of-war, surf in the pool together, and lounge on the deck together happy to share a chair.

• Even from the time S was in my belly Derby was always watching over him.  While they didn’t have the best relationship Derby was always there for S.  S tended to be a little rough, pulled her hair, chased her around, and gave Derby anxiety.  Even though S did all of these things, Derby still would hang out with him.  S and Derby loved to fish.  I think they both love it equally for two very different reasons.  S loved to stick the worm in the water and get a fish.  Derby loved to watch the fish, chase, it and try to catch it in her mouth after S caught it.  Yes she got a few in her day, and a few managed to jump off the dock back into the water to live another day.

• Introducing PJ to the mix.  S was about 5 months old when we got PJ.  PJ was a very anxious dog and had many issues when we got her.  She would destroy the house when we left and she had to be caged for about 2 years before we could leave her out when we were gone.  There was always a struggle for dominance between the two of them but Derby usually won.  At night it was see who could get to bed first and get the comfier of the two dog beds.  This was a coin toss on who would win.  Every night it was different.  Some nights they would share the same bed, not most nights they slept on separate beds one on each side of the bed.  Derby usually slept on my side while PJ slept on B’s side.

• Derby was our swimming dog.  While Pudge and PJ love to swim, Derby was such a character in the water.  We had her wear a life jacket because she thought she was a big dog and would try to swim as long as Pudge could.  Unfortunately she couldn’t stay out as long and we were worried we would have to save her.  It also made it very convenient to pick her up when she was swimming and either put her in a boat with us or up on the dock.  When Derby was little she learned that if she was swimming with us she could climb up on our back/shoulders and get a free ride.  It was the funniest thing when she would climb on your back so she didn’t have to swim back to the beach.  When we would be home in our little pool she and you asked her if she wanted to come in she would come to the side of the pool and wait for you to pick her up and put her in the pool.  She would swim around and when she was done she would come to you for you to lift her out.

• Derby really did love to hang out with S.  When we got the truck she loved riding in it with S.  When she was done with her ride she simply jumped out.  She definitely preferred the front seat to the bed of the truck.  When B made a hitch for the wagon Derby found her perfect seat.  She could go for rides and S could not touch her.  S loved to tow her around and Derby loved to go for the rides.  In recent years, Derby showed interest in riding in the race car with S.  I wasn’t sure she actually wanted to, but they rode around for quite a while like this.  This car is very low to the ground so I think it made Derby more comfortable.

• A year ago the pecking order in the family changed.  PJ had always been on the bottom of the totem pole, but with P being born she was no longer on the bottom.  You couldn’t tell if the dogs were fighting over dominance or who was going to protect P.  PJ definitely took over protecting S, but P was now up for grabs.  Derby took over watch dog mode like she did with S.  When the baby fussed Derby would let me know.  When P started to be more mobile it was almost like a shift in power was happening and Derby was not okay with it.  Derby loves the stage P is now in where she will feed Derby all of her food.  Derby is only too happy to take any scraps she can from P.

I have no idea what happen to set them off.  I know they have fought like this before and nothing has really happened.  I think this was a fluke and not a regular occurrence with PJ.  We made a vet appointment for Wednesday to go over Derby’s x-rays and bloodwork and to discuss PJ.  Derby will be missed.  I didn’t really feel anything one way or the other before writing this because I am so busy with S and P I just don’t have time to sit and think.  Looking through all of these pictures of Derby reminds me of what a great dog she was.  She had a great little doggy personality and we will really miss her.  Thursday night I carried her to bed like a baby and told B look I still have a baby I can carry around.  Sadly, on Friday I didn’t.