In Memoriam

In Memoriam, originally uploaded by Nelo Esteves ~ As Seen Through Hazel Eyes.

Although Angel was born in 1997, he only came to live with us in the Summer of 2001. His early life was very hard. His original owner developed Alzheimer's and possibly abused him. And when she could no longer care for herself, he was passed around to each of her children who considered him a troubled dog and not a good fit for any of their families. Despite having two poms of our own, they pleaded for us to take him in or they would be forced to take him to a shelter. So we decided our hearts had just a little more room for one more.

He came to us with many reported problems, including problems nipping at people, food allergies, tooth problems, small dog syndrome, etc. Turns out the people had been feeding him canned puppy food. Once we put him on adult dry his digestive problems vanished immediately. After several expensive surgeries, we managed to salvage most of his teeth. With a dominant female already in the house, he quickly lost the small dog syndrome. And the nipping, well he was just trying to stand his ground. What others thought was him trying to bite people, was just his way of asking for attention. He played with al the children in our family including our young grandchildren who petted and tugged at his fur and never once bit nor nipped them. The worst case scenario was that they got a good bath from his licks of love.

It took almost two years, but he finally integrated into a happy, healthy member of our family. I miss having him jump up and down with so much excitement when we come home. I miss scratching him while I watch TV on the recliner. I miss hearing his snores when he slept in one of his secret places in the bedroom or living room. Or seeing his joyful glee when one of the kids came and he treated them like his own personal human. He had so much love in such a small ball of fur. And we both miss him so much, but are eternally grateful for all the love and joy he gave back to each of us.