All Dogs Go to Heaven

This title came to mind today. Although I remember a happy movie, today was far from happy. Harley finally decided to stop fighting whatever was going on with her. She stumped the vets since never fully getting over her surgery last Thursday. What a long 4 days of watching and worrying over her. She spent yesterday at the vet so she could be monitored and the vet wanted her to be there again today. He suggested that she spend the night for convenience. I just wanted her to come home to be with us. I'm so glad she was. We both were able to love on her and hold her. I was with her in my bathroom this morning as she crawled to get close to me drying my hair as she breathed her last breaths. It was a terrible, stressful evening and night. We both were up most of it. I rushed her to the emergency vet this morning just to make sure that there was nothing left we could do. It was too late, but they were so respectful and helpful. I was thankful for my mom to rush over and help me once Raymond had to leave for work.

We just got done burying her in our back yard. It was a sweet time of reflecting what all she meant to us. We only had her 3 months. My gosh there were many times that it felt longer. But then I think about what we accomplished with her in that short time. She was so smart. She already knew to sit and lay down on command. She knew to go to the door when she needed to go to the bathroom. She was the friendliest and most loving. I loved that she always had to be close to us. Her latest thing was getting between our legs when we were standing at the sink. She would even stand between us when Ray and I would hug. She was PRECIOUS and PERFECT. I am grateful for the time that we did have with her. As silly as it sounds, it was life changing. For a dog that I wasn't super excited to get, she definitely took a piece of my heart.

Our hearts hurt, but what another reminder of the lesson we are learning that we can still have joy in spite of our circumstances.

Humor me as I share some of my favorite pictures:

Love at first sight!

She always had to be close!

Playful girl!

She loved her grandparents, and they loved her too!

Typical behavior when taking a walk.

On the road!

My kids loved her! They were looking forward to her visiting tomorrow. A few shed tears with me this morning as I shared what happened.

This was her favorite lady like position.

What a big girl she was becoming!

Thanks if you made it this far. I know it's a lot. Jamie, I'm sorry you never got to meet precious Harley. She even told me that she wasn't going to jump on you or lick your toes. You guys would have loved each other.