Before I can wrap my head around getting back to work, there’s sad news I need to share with you. I know some of you have been subscribers or have known me personally for 9 years now, so you know how much I love my furry children.
While I was in Salt Lake City this weekend, at 3am Sunday morning my ex-husband found Sam, my 15 year old Yorkie, drown in the pool.
I am beyond grief stricken that my greatest fear of her falling in the pool is how she went. He fell asleep without having the baby gate on the bedroom door and she went out the doggie door.
I found out when he picked me up at the airport without them. I’m just numb.
As some of you may know I moved them back to Scottsdale from the beach because her blindness and hearing loss was getting to the point where this was the only house she could get around without sight. This was her home on and off for over 10 years. Now it is her resting place.
Her 13 year old son Spike is doing fine. He never spent one day away from her in his whole life and they loved each other dearly.
I know you know how much my dogs mean to me, they are my children. For the last 15 years I’ve created my life around what I thought was best for them.
I debated whether to tell you how she died, but if it saves one dog’s life by telling you to please be careful around water with your pets it will be worth it.
When I was here with them and Sam needed to go out in the middle of the night I would carry her out and bring her back in, just in case. As our pets age they take more time and more care, just like aging people. We can’t forget that. Just last week at the pool store I asked if they had any floatation devices for dogs like I’ve seen with boating dogs and the guy looked at me like I was crazy.
I didn’t want to prevent her from going outside and enjoying the yard, she loved that. I was willing to have her wear a doggie life vest all day if it meant I didn’t have to worry about her drowning if she fell into the pool when I might not see her. It sounded silly and over-protective to some people, but if I would have gone with my instinct she may have still been here today.
You know what your pets need. Do what you have to do. Don’t worry about other people telling you you’re going overboard. Just protect them. Look around your house, see where there might be dangers now as your pets get older that you may not have considered before.
And I pray this is an experience you never have to have.
In sadness,
Lynn
P.S. the second picture is a weekend trip to the East Cape when we lived in Cabo and this is one of the few pictures of us together (Sam is the one on the left) that I scanned in from photo albums that are in storage in San Diego. Sorry it’s not very clear. She was a happy adventurer.