It's taken me a week to be able to post this and still be able to see how to do it. I knew the day was coming, but you never can fully prepare yourself to lose a pet. Especially one who has been by your side for 16 years. Last week, on the 21st, my little Shi Tzu went to the Rainbow Bridge to wait on me. She was 17 years and 12 days old. We got her when she was a year old from a nice young lady who had to give her up because of a life situation. I promised her we would take good care of her and give her a good home. In the kindest way she could muster, she told me to please be patient with her because she doesn't seem to like men. When we got home and gave her a bath, we let her sleep with us on the bed like we did our other little dog. It was that very first night that she took up with me, and we were down like 4 flat tires for the next 16 years. Lots of good times! She was the most stubborn little dog we ever had....to everyone but me! If she got in trouble and my wife yelled at her, she would run around behind me and look at my wife with that "Yeah! Now whatcha gonna do?" look on her face and make my wife even madder...lol. She was always very healthy, but when she was around 14 she started losing her hearing, but adjusted pretty well. Then she started getting cataracts, and our vet said she was too old to get the surgery. She managed that as well as she did the hearing loss and soldiered on. Last year, she started getting Vertigo pretty bad and we had to give her medicine to keep it at bay. The vet said she was also getting cognitive disorder and that there was no treatment for that. He told us the signs and milestones of that to watch for, so we would know when it was time to make the decision to let her go, with the last ones being she wouldn't want to eat as often and not be able to sleep well. Being an older dog, she slept a lot so that was the main one we watched for. She turned 17 on the 9th of this month, while we were at our camper at the beach a few weeks ago. 10 days later, she got to where she couldn't rest, barely ate and was just generally agitated. She had a good life and was a wonderful little dog. We've had 4 Shi Tzu's in the last 25 years and she was the last dog standing. I feel guilty for picking favorites when they all have been great, but she was my favorite dog ever and the best little furry friend I've ever had. I'll go to my grave missing her, but I know that right after the last breath I ever take, the next thing I see will be her standing there at The Rainbow Bridge with that little tail wagging. R.I.P. Prissy. Life won't be the same without you, but I will see you again!

Sad to hear when a pet leaves our lives.
They leave such an imprint on us. You did a great service to your dog and rest assured, dogs know when they are loved.

It is sad that God only gives 10-20 years on average for our pets, but it teaches us about life and how things depend on us for survival. I am more of a cat person but let the wife have a couple Labradors that were awesome, they only last around 12 years. Our cats have lasted pretty close to 20 years each, and now have three two year olds that should last us until we are gone. RIP Prissy...

Sorry for your loss!I hope you can find comfort in that he is feeling better now.

So very sorry!

Excellent picture of you two, and very well written eulogy.

Sorry to hear. Those days have been the worst of my life, and I miss my little pals that have passed on.
Humans could learn a lot about loyalty from them.

sorry about the pup .. tough to lose them

Sorry for the grief you're enduring now. It is a rough lesson of life. I have a hard time with it when I lose a dog. Thinking of you in your time of grief.

Thanks for all the replies so far y'all. It helps more than you know. She is home now, as the pet cremation place got her back to us fairly quick. Her little carved wooden box they provide to hold ashes is on my nightstand by the bed, along with the framed ceramic paw print of her little foot. It's a nice little memorial to keep her memory alive.

Sorry to hear. That's one of the worst times owning a dog at the end. Sounds like she had a nice life and managed to get to a nice old age! We have a relative who's had several of those along with Yorkies.
My Blue Heeler is turning 14 in October so every time something happens or changes it's starting to bother me more and more.

Sorry for you loss. I hope in time you'll be able to give a new friend a home. They're never quite the same but they have a way of making you smile and stealing your heart again.

Always difficult loosing a pet, we have 4 of them (felines) one is older and the other three are middle age. Sorry for your loss.

Sorry to hear this. Sounds like lots and lots of good times and good memories to hold on to. Sweet looking pup there. Again sorry for your loss.

Mike

So very sorry, I know the pain very well. You gave her a great life and she will always live on in your heart.

X2! After our old pup passed away at a bit over 13,my wife and I went thru the adoption process and brought home a sweet little pup that was abused. It is the best thing we could have done!

I am sorry for your loss.

The photo of your beloved Prissy is personal to me since I have a Shih Tzu who bears a striking resemblance to her. He is a six-year old rescue who has been with us for four and a half years. He is black and white with a little bit of buff color, reminds me of a beagle when looking from the rear.

He is our fourth Shih Tzu and the three before him have lived to at least fifteen years. They are wonderful companions and as hard as it is lose them, I wouldn't have missed having them. It is very hard to let go but they depend on us to make the last best decision for them.

All of us who have known the love of a pet can identify with you at this difficult time.

We're sorry to hear about prissy,we lost our phantasm poo a few weeks ago.Thats a great picture of you guys together.Take care God bless...John and Ellies

JD, this really touched my heart - I know how you feel. My Dad had a dog a long time ago - Buffy - he was a Cocker Spaniel. My Dad loved him so much, & Buffy died of cancer when he was about 12 & my Dad said never again - never another dog (because he loved him SO much & losing him was just too much). So then when my brothers & I were little, we each got a kitten from the same litter - 3 of them - that was back in 1964. My cat, Suzie, lived until 1985 - she was 21. My Dad had grown so attached to her since we moved out, it happened again - broke my Dad's heart. The day my brother & I took her in to have her put down, was the only time I ever saw my Dad cry. It was so hard to see my Dad like this, plus I was heartbroken to lose Suzie too. I guess some of us just REALLY get attached to our pets. It's a wonderful feeling while they are with us, but we usually outlive them & see them go.

Right now, we have two wonderful little kitts & we love them as if they were little people. Lucy is the sweetest cat I've ever known & she chose ME from the beginning, so she is my little baby. She's about 10 now, & I can't stand to think of seeing her go too, but I will (unless I go first).

Anyway, time will help heal so give it day-by-day, but be assured, I believe we will see our little buddies again some day too. Very sorry for your loss.

Here's an old pic of my Dad with Buffy. (mid-1950's).

Sorry for your lose, JD. Always tough when one of our hairy family members leaves us.

Thanks guys, for all of your replies...and for sharing your own stories and pictures. Hearing that y'all feel the same way about your furry little friends sure makes me feel like I'm in good company here. Maybe 6 or 8 months after we got Prissy, I bought a 74 Cuda 360 from Moparts member Challenger Ken (R.I.P. Ken) and my wife and I, and the 2 dogs loaded up in the truck with the trailer to go to Indiana to get it. Prissy wasn't much of a rider when she was young, and panted and huffed and puffed all the way from NC to Indianapolis. She about drove my wife nuts and Annie, our other Shi Tzu would just look at her every now and then and go Grrrrrrr! When we got to Indy and got a room, it was close to midnight. As soon as we got in the room, Prissy jumped up on the bed and fell over and went to sleep. From then on, when she would plop down to sleep, we called it her "Indiana Flop"! When we got to Ken's shop, The Finer Details the next morning...all of his guys had to come out and see the dogs and bring them treats and stuff. Remembering goofy stuff like that eases the loss somewhat, because she added so much fun to my life. We certainly do plan to get a few more not too far in the future, but we're going to take a little bit of a break to let it heal before we do. About 2 years ago, we lost our other Shi Tzu, Buster to stomach cancer when he was 8 years old. We'll get 2 at once next time, because they keep each other company while we're out and about.