We adopted Doozer from Pat at WABR in March of 2002,  she was at Petsmart that Saturday in hopes of being adopted,  she was scared silly  and oh so cute,  Pat suggested maybe we foster her for a while and see
 how things go,  yeah, right,  we filled out the papers in a couple of  days and she was all ours.
 She was 10 months old and had come from an abusive home,  afraid of  almost everything and everyone.
 Eventually she came out of her shell,  but if you weren't in our home on  a regular basis she would growl as she backed away from you with her  rump on the ground!! She would eventually come to you after you sat down and things were calm.
 She always had joint problems,  and we would have to keep her quiet and  put her on meds for a few days until she was better,  but on the 11th she went down in the rear and her left leg was hanging up next to her side, and off to the vet we went,  he diagnosed degenerative disc disease,  but the rimadyl wasn't working so on the 17th we went to Pat's
 vet in Spokane.
 He agreed with the diagnosis but changed her meds to prednisone, a  muscle relaxer and a pain reliever,  with decreasing doses over time, no change at all after 4 days, the vet said give her 10 days and if no change than there probably wouldn't be one,  he believed she probably
 had a tumor wrapped around a disc somewhere with the way her left rear leg was hanging up.
 By Sunday the 27th I knew we had to let her go, she wasn't getting  better and was losing muscle mass, we carried her everywhere because she couldn't walk.
 We took her to our local vet on Monday and she went quickly, I know she  was tired and ready to let go, but as is always the case,  we are the ones who aren't ready.
 She was my lap dog, my bell hound,  she loved to talk to you with cute  little grunting sounds, and she would wag her tail like crazy but her tail was always down, as though she was still somewhat fearful. Seven years was not nearly enough, but I am so grateful for what we had in that time,  Doo was only eight years old,  but for 7 of those all she
 knew was a warm home, plenty of food and treats and the knowledge that she was safe and loved dearly and unconditionally.
 I know you are free of pain now Doozer, and I know someday we will be together again, and you can sit on my lap and tell me about your day, and I can hold you close and rub those soft ears again. Mommy loves you,
 Tammara forever momma to Freckles and Harley D
 Murphy, ATB 5-9-9
 Daizey Doo ATB 12-28-9
 Douglas ATB 4-25-06