more sad news.....

I can't believe I'm having to write this post......I can't believe what happened.....our beloved little doggie has died. We are a family with no pets.....I feel so sad!!

We woke up Saturday morning and noticed that Penny didn't seem to be around. We thought she must have gotten out of the yard, even though she'd never really gotten out before. Nate drove through the neighborhood, up and down every street, in and out of every cul-de-sac. I walked up and down the streets with Benjamin, asking every person I ran into if they'd seen a little black and white dog running around.....no one had. I immediately put together a "Lost Dog" flyer offering a reward for her safe return. We knew that if someone had Penny they may decide to keep her....she was so friendly and loving. As I was on the phone with the Humane Society, giving them a description of our Penny, Nate made a gruesome discovery.

With the small bits of evidence we found we have determined that Penny must have been killed and carried away by coyotes. We figure she must have heard something in the middle of the night and gone out to investigate....she probably thought she was going to play with something. She loved spending time chasing little field mice and lizards in our backyard. We've searched and searched for her remains, we'd really like the chance to bury her, but we haven't had any luck yet.

Penny was the best dog we ever could have hoped for. We searched for the best dog and once we laid eyes on her we knew she was the one. She was so gregarious and wanted nothing more than to sit in your lap and lick your face. The house feels so quiet without her. I miss hearing her clanking collar when she was running to greet me, I can hardly sleep without the sound of her snoring in her little dog bed at the foot of ours, and all those little snorts and snuffs when she was trying to find some remnant of Benjamin's dinner on the floor. I miss petting the soft spot on her squashed little nose and I miss the bare spot on her curly Q tail.

Benjamin hasn't really seemed to notice Penny being gone. It was the same when Oliver passed away. Of course, we had time to get used to Oliver being gone with all the doctor's visits, tests, medications, etc. We knew that Oliver was sick with cancer, that he hadn't eaten in weeks and that his death would end his suffering. Several days after Oliver was gone Benjamin told me the kitty had gone "night night." He's so intuitive and smart! With Penny gone I think Benjamin is just concerned because Nate and I have been so upset. He told Nate yesterday that "Mama sad." It just broke my heart!

I know that some day we will bring a new pet into our family. We even talked a bit today about what kind of dog we might like, but it made me miss Penny too badly. I think we'll have to take some time to heal the grief before we are ready to love a new furry friend. It just feels so weird not to have a pet, to not have to go to the pet store for anything, not have to worry about arranging for a pet sitter for an out of town trip. I'm sure we'll get used to it eventually. As for the rest of you with pets of your own.....make sure you hug them, hold them and love them while you can!