Goodbye Coco

Today we lost our little dog Coco.  She had been having breathing problems for a while.   In the last few days, it got worse.  We took her in to a specialist and they diagnosed her with Congestive Heart Failure.  They gave her oxygen treatment and diuretics and she seemed to improve.  So we took her home with new medications and instructions that she was to be a coach dog, which she already was.

We only had her about 10 more hours. She wanted go out early this morning and I packed her out the back door.  Just as I stepped out on the deck, she voided her bladder so I knew something was wrong.  When I got to the yard, she was completely limp.  Then she seemed to perk up and then collapse again.  It was obvious that my little girl was going.  I set on the bottom of the deck and held her for the longest minute I can remember.  It may have been longer.  I do not know but it sure felt like it.  Then she was gone. A few hours later, we buried her in the yard over by a rhododendron she used to like to sit by.  She will be missed.

Some would say that we wasted a lot of money on her in the last couple of days of her life but Sandy put it best when she said we know that we did everything we could for her.  We will never have to wonder what we did not do for her.

She was a 4.7 lb. longhaired brown female Chihuahua.  She was about 13 years old and I guess we had her for about 10 years.  I am afraid I am not sure on dates.  It seems that we had her forever and, quite frankly, she will be with us from now on.

Some people say little dogs do not know they are little.  Not true.  She knew she was little but she just did not care.  She was the boss of all of our dogs and made sure they toed the line.  She faced off dogs 30 times her side without a thought to assert her territory.  But she was the most loving little thing that ever lived.  She loved to cuddle and be cuddled – but wanted to be left alone after a while to sleep in peace.

Before I retired and had no stopgap remedy for my CDH, I spent days on end in bed pretty much curled up in a ball.  She laid beside me hour after hour to “take care” of me.  Not leaving my side to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom unless I would get up and take her.

She was a finicky eater and had to be coaxed to eat; resulting in being hand-fed on more occasions than not.  She was so pigeon-toed that it became more and more difficult for her to walk on hardwood floors.  After overcoming her objections to her loss of independence, she came to expect the assistance as her due.

She never had any problem in ever acknowledging her place in our household as a princess.  The only problem was making sure she did not move to become queen or empress.

Goodbye my little princess – COCO.