Goodbye Our baby girl....

We are just devastated.... our home doesn't even feel the same.... it was especially quiet getting ready for work.  No need to carry Sydney around to her bed & make her comfortable for the day.  No need to carry her out to the bathroom before I left.  No need to nurse an aging dog.  ....

Our old girl is gone...

Having 14 years with this girl, you can imagine all the pictures I have of her. I could probably post a picture every day for a year & still not post them all...

I hate that when we got her, it wasn't easy to upload pictures.  Most of her puppy pictures are sitting in albums & not online anywhere.

14 years...

We had lost our last Aussie, Pandora, at the beginning of 2000 & we decided to hold off on getting another dog.  But by the end of the year we were ready. 

We had met up with an Aussie breeder & she took us in to see this puppy.  She was precious. She was playing with 2 of the breeder's kids so we just assumed it was their puppy.  Then the lady told us, This is the one for sale.  We both gasped.  She was so beautiful.  The breeder had to get rid of her because she was a 'misfit"... seriously... a misfit.  Why?  Because she had a white spot on her ear, so she 'was useless for show'... I'm not even joking - this is what the lady said to us.  Useless.

How Lord... how wrong that word could be to describe our Sydney.

We were happy to take this misfit & make her a part of our family.

She rode home in the floorboard of the car, in between Ricky's legs, scared to death.  That formed a bond between the two of them that is indescribable.  Whenever she was afraid, she would head right to Ricky.

Always, even in her old age, she wanted to be in Ricky's lap

My mom came over the day we got her & couldn't believe she had the Aussie butt as a 6 week old puppy.  But she had it.

She was the cutest little pup.

We named her Sydney since she was an Aussie & Louise was in honor of my mom & my mother in law who both have Louise as the middle name.  Hey, when you don't have children, you treat your pets like children... including using family names.

The first night home with her, Ricky said, "She's not sleeping in this bed" & made her an area next to the bed.  She was so sad being away from her home & cried all night long.  So in the middle of the night, guess who was in bed with us - right in between... & there she stayed our whole lives.

She loved TV... seriously LOVED TV.  She would watch it all the time.  Whenever we would leave her, we'd put it on Animal Planet & no kidding, we'd come home with her on the couch just watching it.

She loved Happy Meals.  All thanks to my mom.  When she was little, she would have to be let outside, & I would try & come home during lunch but on days I couldn't, my mom would ride over & let her out & spend time with her.  Every time she'd come, she'd bring a McDonalds Happy Meal.  Sydney seriously knew the words "Happy Meal"... she loved her grandma.

She's seriously talking on the phone with Grandma here...

She loved to play hide & seek with her daddy.  She was AMAZING at finding him.  We would even go to a park that had trails & we'd let her run loose & he would hide in the woods, underneath leaf piles & she would track his scent down every time.   It gave her such joy when she would find him.

For 3 years, it was just the 3 of us....

Then we moved to Indiana...

Funny story - when we were moving, we locked her in a back room so she wouldn't get lost in the confusion - well she got out.  We were freaking out.  We were running the streets screaming her name.  Our neighbor across the street said as we went one direction, she went in the house... as we went in the house, she came out & went looking for us - we kept crossing paths.  We finally ran into each other & we never ever gave her a chance to run out again.

When we moved to Indiana, Sydney had never been around other dogs. so when we moved & our neighbors had dogs everywhere (which is why I wanted to buy this house) she was so unsure.  She went in the yard & all these dogs come running at her - she literally laid in the yard, submitted, rolled over & was so confused.... little did she know, those dogs would all be her best friends. I would just have to say their names & she would perk up & get excited to open the door to see them.  Sydney is the last of those original dogs with the neighbors... an era has ended...

But we ended up getting her a friend in Buffy.  As much as she loved the neighbors dogs, she wasn't sure when we bought a puppy home. It took awhile for her to warm up to Buffy, but her loving personality soon took on "momma" role & they were the best friends all the way up to Buffy passing away last September.

Praying God is merciful & these 2 are together again

Sydney was so smart... I mean, scary smart.  She would know when it was time for her daddy to leave & she would go find his socks and his shoes & take them & either make him chase her to get them...a fun game in her eyes... or she would take them & hide them.  Not even joking.  Hide his shoes, he can't go anywhere.

She was so jealous of her daddy too.  Anytime she saw me hugging Ricky, she would bark at me & if I would say, "My daddy" she would run & jump in between us, nosing her way to get to him.  It was the funniest thing. 

Ricky has truly lost one of the dearest things to love him in this world....

She'd watch him from the window whenever he was outside

Sydney loved having grandbabies run around the house.  It made her herding skills come in check.  Little ones?  of course they needed to be watched over. 

She was picky about people too.  She particularly didn't care for men, but she loved our friend Ryan.  She would see him & just wag her nub... same thing happened when she would see my mom, or Lindsay, Ricky's youngest daughter.  She actually knew them by name when I would say, Want to see Lindsay?  She would run to the door & wait to see her....

Sydney is the dog that has been there through the years... through so many moments in our lives, so many holidays.  She was with me when I was pregnant & lost those babies... when I cried... when I was sick. She was such a comfort. A best friend.

She never wanted to be alone...always wanted to take care of someone or something.

She slowed down as she got older... as dogs do...

& again, how smart she was, she would just stare are the hardwood floors in our house & refused to walk on them.  Our house has been covered in throw rugs for the past 2 years.  Something we were happy to do for our old girl.

I'm telling you - throw rugs everywhere

But when the limp came this past February first & we got the news that she had cancer.. you could have knocked the air out of us....

The day after we got the diagnosis of Bone cancer

& we were told we would be lucky to have her make it till April.

Let me tell you, this girl is one tough girl.  She showed the vet what she was made of making it all the way through Spring, all the way through Summer & into the first few days of Fall...

our fighter...

You saw the post that happened on Monday...

& we would have been happy to keep carrying her wherever she needed, given her the care she deserved... but you could tell she was so tired... that her body was giving out on her.

She was just sleeping more & more... & then Wednesday night, she sat up all night - I mean, ALL NIGHT, & barked & yelped.  Her breathing was different.  We couldn't do much to comfort her.  Ricky finally took her into the other room where no dogs where & put her in bed & she got a little bit of comfort rest....

but we knew it was getting near...

We both took the day off yesterday.  Spent it with her.  Ricky even put her in the wagon I got to carry my photo equipment & took her for walks.  She enjoyed it, but still didn't even lift her head... just watched the sky.  Even the neighbors dogs came over to see her & she just stared at them....

I took her to our favorite spot - the front porch & we sat out there for a few hours.  I don't know how I'll ever go back out there with a book & not miss her.  She turned into our old country dog....

I kept praying all day for God to give me a sign that this was the day...

It came for me when Ricky took her & put her in bed & we turned on Animal Planet again.  Raccoons & dogs were running across the screen... we got no reaction. Ricky told her to get them, which always starts up a bark.  Nothing.  Not even an ear perk.  Just staring.

We knew...

even though we 2nd guessed ourselves to the very moment where they came in with the needle.

I just can't believe she's gone...

Last night, walking back in our house & seeing her empty beds & pillows & rugs & how our house has been shifted to make her comfortable... & she's no longer there... oh my heart...

I kept hearing a dog drink water in our bedroom last night & my instinct was, don't let Sydney have too much or she'll get sick... & then I realized it was Zoe, & not Sydney .... & I realize how different life is doing to be for awhile....

Learning the new routine...

learning to adapt without our 'misfit'

How lonely it will be without her...

How broken hearted we are...

How thankful we are to have had her in our lives for so long. 

.... but all still sucks... even more then ever....

I told someone that having a dog you love this much is 99% wonderful & the end is only 1% ... but that 1% makes you miss the other 99% ... which is a lot of missing & heartache...

Sydney Louise, you were the best dog in the world.  There will never be another dog as wonderful as you, as smart as you, as caring as you.  You have touched our hearts in a special way & made us appreciate the gift we had in you for so many years.  You will be missed forever.  Momma loves you.

Keep watching for us baby girl... we'll see you soon

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Be warned... I took a lot of pictures the past few weeks so I'll have a bunch more pictures of our beautiful Aussie....