An Internet Memorial and a New Day

As some of you might have already heard, we lost my mom’s dog Liam on the thirteenth of October just passed. He was eight miserable pounds of trouble and bad temper, but he loved us, and we loved him.

We found him when he was six months old. My mom brought him home, and as soon as she fed him, he dropped into a coma. He had a liver shunt, and he needed an expensive surgery. For years, Dad measured the cost of things in Liams, but we never regretted it. The ammonia that his liver hadn’t been filtering for the first six months of his life ruined his eyes, cooked his brain, and damaged many of his internal organs. He was mostly blind, very anxious, and a little crazy, a bad combination, and we had to crate him whenever anybody visited, but I have never met a more loving, devoted dog. He made it eleven happy, healthy years, and when he went, in my mother’s arms. A valve in his heart burst. It was very fast.

Since, my mother has felt a dog shaped hole where he was, and a week after Liam died, she brought home Suzy, a two-year-old, six pound Maltese-dachshund mix, who we believe was mistreated before we got her. She is warming up to us, and is just the little follow-me-around dog my mom needed.



A few days ago, we scattered Liam’s ashes in the back yard, out where he used to chase pigeons, and Amy, our chow-Akita mix started to lap them up. I hauled her inside, while she tried to explain that really, she had been dreaming about eating that little brat for years. He really did terrorize the other five dogs. You have to admire that kind of chutzpah.

I leave you with a video of our new little girl after her first bath. Welcome to the family, Suzy Q.