At least she was wearing clean underwear

We said goodbye to our beautiful Moxie this afternoon. Our poor girl was never able to recover from her surgery and showed no signs of improving. After I went to visit her this morning she took a turn for the worse. Her abdomen became full of fluids and the fluids turned out to be leakage from the site where they reconnected her small intestine the day before. Our options were limited and she was miserable. We said goodbye tearfully and peacefully, there was no shortage of love for dear Mox.

She was a "bad dog", but we couldn't have loved her more. No matter how much trouble she caused there was always forgiveness to be had, she was too sweet to stay mad at. I only feel bad now that she had such limited time with us, I am confident that we gave her the best life possible. If you don't know, she came from a neglectful situation where she wasn't taken care of and I don't believe even her basic needs were being met. Since joining our family she enjoyed walking every day, the best food, the best dog companion (Luther, of course), infinite affection from both of us, and a lifetime supply of socks. Like Scott said over a beer earlier, "at least she went doing something she loved".

I don't want to bother to medically comprehend what she was going through over the last few days, it's too upsetting to imagine. Rather, I think I'll interpret her actions and behaviors as I've done all along. We had such a nice day on Sunday, it was Halloween - our favorite. I think that was her day to say goodbye. She toughed out the day w/ hardly a sign of illness. We all celebrated and it was delightful. Once she showed signs of sickness again she declined quickly. I'm so grateful for our holiday together and I'll try to remember that as our last day. Today we said goodbye to her body, her pretty ears, and her sad eyes and while it broke our hearts, it was the kind thing to do.

Here are my 2 favorite pics of her with each of us:

oh, I gave her a quick bath Tuesday before she went in because sometimes baths cheered her up, hence the title.

And if you've just read all these sappy words about how much I love my dogs then I thank you. You're a good friend.