Sad News*

I received some sad news today.

My mother called me this morning to tell me that my sister and her husband have decided to put their dog, Foxy, to sleep. I teared up on the phone, but didn't actually start crying because I don't like to cry in front of my mother. I was crushed, though, when I heard the news. Mom said that my brother-in-law had already called my nephew, who's away in college, to give him the news. Apparently, he took it pretty well, saying that his folks had to do what they had to do.
I know he's right, but I will miss Foxy, or Foxy-Woxy girl, as I like to call her.

Foxy is a real sweet dog, a big ol' lap puppy, as Sis calls her. She's part Husky and part unknown. My sister told my nephew when he was little that he could have a dog when he turned eight. Sis thought her son would forget about her promise, but when the age of eight hit, it was dog time! My nephew picked Foxy out of a group of puppies at the local Humane Society.
He was on this fox kick at the time, and picked Foxy because she looked like a fox; that's also how she got her name.

Foxy was a very cute and happy puppy, not difficult at all. When Mom and I would go over to my sister's house, Mom would coo at Foxy and rub her belly. Every since then, Foxy has just LOVED having her belly rubbed! When I go see her now, the first thing she does is lay on her back so I can rub her belly and talk baby talk to her. Then she likes for me to stroke her back and scratch her head. She likes that almost as much as she likes her belly rubs. Foxy isn't a good watch dog, she's just too friendly, but she's the best family dog there is. However, on the rare chance that Foxy doesn't like you, watch out! There were these two Doberman-looking dogs who used to live next door, and Foxy hated them. Whenever she saw them she'd start growling and barking, and try to attack them. We never figured out why Foxy didn't like them.
Fortunately, they moved away before anyone got hurt.

With the exception of the Doberman look alikes, Foxy gets along with everyone and everything. She's just a dear, sweet dog. I love her very much, and it will be so hard to lose her, but she's ten years old now and her health is very bad. Mainly, she suffers from hip displasia, which causes her alot of pain and makes it difficult for her to walk. It's also painful for her to lay down on the side with the bad hip, so she lays on just one side and is getting sores that don't seem to want to heal. Hip replacement surgery for Foxy will probably cost $3000, and with a son in college that's something Sis and her husband just can't afford. So, they've made the painful decision to put Foxy down. This decision is especially hard because our family's had so much loss this year.

In February we lost our father to cancer, which crushed us. Then, my nephew went off to college in August. That might not seem like a loss, but it is because we're losing a beloved child to adulthood. Anyone who's a parent, or honorary parent, will know what I mean. Then I lost my job, also in August, which dealt a body blow to my self-esteem, not to mention my pocket book. And now we're losing Foxy. It's almost too much.

I don't know the date when Foxy will go. I'm definitely going to go see her before it happens. It'll break my heart to look into her eyes knowing she has no idea what's coming. But I'll be strong because it really is for the best. My father was in alot of pain and mental distress before he died and that was agonizing to see. I don't want that for Foxy, even if she is just a dog. If she can be sent on peacefully, I think that's a compassionate return on the "investment" of unconditional love she gave all of us.