The other sad news is that Taya's health deteriorated fairly rapidly since Christmas time. She had another surgery, but they found that the cancer had spread significantly. After the surgery, she wouldn't eat anything. We force fed her, hoping that maybe once she got stronger she might feel like eating. But that never really happened.
Unfortunately we had to make the decision to put her to sleep. She just was not the same dog anymore. You could tell in her eyes that she was suffering. So today we took her to the vet and had her euthanized. It has been a very sad and very emotional time for both Jim and me. We loved that little doggie to death.
Here are some of our memorites of her:
I remember when I went to go look at the pet store, I had no real intention of getting a dog that day, but when I saw you, you came straight up to the front of your kennel and looked at me with your big brown eyes, wagging your tail, and I was in love at first sight.
I remember there was a dog park we would go to very close to our apartment in downtown St. Paul. You loved it there! You mostly would go to the people for attention, but there was one dog you loved to play with. It was a little terrier named Digby. You and Digby would walk around together and Digby would pick up cigarette butts and you would look for trash.
I remember most of all taking you to Chrissy Field. This was a dog beach with all sorts of dogs running off leash. It was like you were in heaven! You loved the sand – you would shove your nose in it and throw the sand up. Then you would use your front paws to dig, dig, dig, until you got it just right, and then you would plop down and enjoy the feeling of laying in the freshly exposed cool sand. But then you would jump up and start running again. You were always a little afraid of the water, at first. You would run up to it and then quickly run away as the waves came in. But once you got your feet a little wet, you would cautiously go a little further. You never really did go for a full swim, but you certainly got yourself wet enough to become a filthy mess when you inevitably rolled in the sand afterwards. You would run after sticks (you were a little better at playing fetch by this time), chase the seagulls, and run up to the other people with this giant smile on your face. You would say hello to the other dogs, but you were really more interested in getting the people attention. And you were so adorable that you had no problem getting that attention. I used to call you an attention whore because you would almost immediately roll over onto your back to present your belly for rubs. You loved Chrissy Field so much that I tried to make sure we went almost every weekend.
I remember taking you to the local park to walk every day. We had to walk down a block and across Franklin and Gough streets (both one-way thoroughfares through the city) to get to the park. Pretty soon after we moved there, I was feeling quite confident with you, and let you off the leash to play with this little beagle that also lived in our building. Before I knew it, you and that beagle started running and running, and ran off! I remember my heart sinking and being terribly afraid and looking and looking for you. We finally found you sitting in the doorway of the apartment building, and the beagle wandering in the parking garage of the hotel across the alley. It amazes me to this day that the two of you survived what was probably a full sprint across Franklin and Gough – especially because it must have been right around 6:30pm.
You somehow knew exactly what I needed and were always there to give me youe unconditional love. You also had this way of sitting on the back of the couch, so that you could wrap your front paws around one side of my neck, while leaning your head onto mine. I like to think of it as your way of giving a hug.
I remember when I moved into this house, I wanted to avoid the trauma of San Francisco move for you, so I started by taking you to the empty house each night and weekend when I would go to do work on it. I still have the pictures of you exploring the place the first time, as you ran to the bay window, lifted yourself up and looked out. That spot would become your favorite in the whole house.
Jim remembers that when we first started dating, he thought it was the most ridiculous thing to have the dog sleep in the bed. Then when I went away and Jim watched you, guess where you slept.
I remember you running big wide circles in the back yard with Jim chasing you. That was one of your favorite games. You would run close – just close enough for us to try and touch you – before you would run far away, only to circle back again. Jim remembers you laying down in the grass after doing circles to rest. You would stare at him until he went and lunged for you, and then you would start the circles all over again.
I will always remember you sleeping in the bend of my knees and the comfort and warmth that brought.
