Sparky (1998?-2009)

Sometime over two years ago Sparky came to live with us. Her owner had died after a long illness, and Sparky needed a home. We were told she was nine years old, but we all think she was a lot older than that. For the first week we had her, she stood looking at the door, as if waiting for her master to come get her.

Gradually she became one of the family. She really loved Janelle and Ben especially. She moved with us first to Whitehall and then across country to Oregon. Although she slept most of the trip, it still seemed to take a lot out of her.

Lately she's been seeming confused. She would wander to a corner of our fenced-in back yard, or even into a corner of the room, and then stand there, not sure what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to go. Every time she would wake up from a nap, she would stand there as if she was trying to remember where she was and who we were.

Something happened this week that caused her to slip downhill fast. She quit eating and spent even more time sleeping (if that's possible). She started having trouble walking, and fell down several times. If she could manage to get up from where she was sleeping, then she couldn't figure out how to lay down. She was so weak that she couldn't bend down without falling down.

We determined to make her comfortable as long as we could, until last night when she was lying on the kitchen floor napping. She peed right where she was (sorry to be graphic), and just laid in it. That was the tipping point for us.

Today, we said goodbye to Sparky and I drove her to the animal shelter, where I rubbed her head one last time, said, "Bye, Baby," and walked out. I have often said I wasn't very connected to her, but found out today she was more my dog than I realized, or would have admitted if questioned. She's gone now, and in my mind's eye I can see her romping with her old owner, reunited, at least in my fantasies.