millie

I'm still not sure of my theology of whether or not dogs go to heaven. Either way, we had to let this one go last week. Millie has been struggling for awhile and it was time. She had a fabulous 13 (2 months shy of 14) years and was a really incredible dog. We got her when she was 10 months old - sweet, gentle, fully trained and a ball of energy (and chewing)!  She loved good scratches, chasing cats and deer, walks, shedding, a window to look at the world, laying in the middle of the kitchen, wagging her entire back half along with her tail, swimming in the river and her people. Her people loved her. She never really liked fans, the noise blowing on glass bottles makes or the smoke alarm. She was the mascot at the river and spent a large chunk of her life with my parents, who initially didn't want to like her, but really couldn't help it. She kept my dad company when he had his knee replaced, was a great dog with the kids when they were small, rebounded from an ACL replacement at the age of 9, jumped out the window of a moving car once, and Ben says is the best dog he ever owned. We always said she would make a terrible guard dog, although I always loved having her around when Ben was away.

She and I have struggled the past year or so. She lost her hearing in the summer of 2015 and really went downhill from there. She started to wander and couldn't do stairs. She stopped going upstairs to sleep in Ted's room last winter. She was on pain meds for her legs and hips for about two years. She started pacing about 6 months ago and her nails clicking incessantly on the hardwood floors were unnerving. But she never got cranky or mean. She couldn't always hear when we got home, but when she figured it out she was always happy to see us. It has been weird to come home and not have her meet me at the door.

The Queen of the River

I'm pretty sure my Dad loved her only second to Ben.

She always slept in my dad's bed in the camper and was the first one up for coffee and breakfast cookies with Mayor John.

She LOVED swimming in the river. She would run off the end of the dock, swim around to the bank, get out and do it all over and over and over again.

Meeting Ted

She never left his side in those early days.

The good old cone of shame happened a lot the past couple of years.

She did this to my bathroom door when she got stuck in there. We were not friends then.

In 2012 she had ACL surgery. She was such a trooper and recovered well.

When she was recovering from her surgery, Ted would lay out in the sun with her.

I came downstairs this spring and Sophie and Millie were having a very serious discussion. Sophie told me she asked Jesus to be Millie's friend forever so Millie could go to heaven when she dies. (I need all sorts of emojis to go with this post.)

Things really started going downhill in May. This was 18 hours before we got on a plane to go to Italy. Millie and I were at the vet because she had started peeing in the house. I totally lost it with the vet. I threw her completely off. A lot of money later and no real answers, we left our kids and a peeing dog for 10 days. God bless our parents.

A boy and his dog. Millie slept in Ted's room for about 5 years. This was a long time ago in a tent at the river.

Sophie was Rudolph this morning.

We love you, Mills. You were the best!