Goodbye Fair Princess

The first time my husband, Don, met Princess was at the Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter in Hillsboro, Oregon. The kids and I had phoned him to say we thought we'd found a dog.

"She's skin and bones, loaded with fleas, and she's timid around men. They're worried that she may be a biter," I'd told him.

Don's answer: "I'll be right over."

He'd walked into the meet and greet room, cupped his hands and said, "Hi, girl." Princess, who had seemed starved and lethargic, knew a good thing. She trotted right over to Don and laid her head in his hands, staring up at him adoringly. We'd found our dog, a Beagle/Whippet type cross who was then six or seven.

That was thirteen wonderful years ago, time in which we came to love the kindhearted mutt who was so good with children. Princess helped raise our daughter and son and was a delight for visiting nephews and nieces.

These past few months, Princess's health has been see-sawing back and forth. At each turn, we've done our best to support her and the good days have always been a tremendous blessing. Just a few weeks ago, Princess was tearing around the living room, playing like a puppy with Sprite.

Sadly, our Princess began to refuse food this past Monday. She lost a fair amount of motor control in her back end and seemed chilled much of the time. The most worrisome symptom was how her heart pounded erratically -- and visibly-- on the sides of her increasingly frail chest wall.

Some part of me knew it was time. On Tuesday, I gave our vet a heads up and for the past three nights, Sprite, Lei Lei, and I camped out in the living room with Princess, keeping her blanketed or turning on the propane fireplace to warm her.

Late yesterday, Don and I made the difficult decision to euthanize Princess humanely -- we called our vet and arranged for her to come here this afternoon. Thankfully, Princess's last night at home was good. She took in a bit of boiled chicken breast and rested comfortably. It was a warm night, but I left the fireplace on anyway.

Throughout the day, our dear senior dog slept more and more and seemed less and less aware. Until Don cancelled his meeetings and came home early to spend time with his Princess. When she sensed Don's presence, Princess brightened, stretching up to again lay her head in the palm of his hand, gazing lovingly at her favorite person in the world.

Today was hard, but given the chance, Don and I both agree that we would do it all again for a kind, gentle spirit like Princess.