It seems like when it rains, it pours and such is the case for my family this month.
Today we said good-bye to our family dog, Yippy.
She was a grand old lady at the end, 16 yrs old (yes, that's 112 in dog years, folks!) and had been a very loved & cherished member of our family since joining it in December of 1995.
Ostensibly, Yippy was supposed to be my youngest brother, John's, dog but she really took to my stepdad Bill and loved to sit with him, play with him & even tell him when it was time to go to bed.
She loved to play with John (who was 5 when she became a member of the family and turns 21 in just over 2 weeks). She loved to attack anything he wore on his feet: shoes, socks, slippers but her absolute *favourite* chew toy was his hockey glove. She loved to steal it from his hockey bag and even as she got older, she would just pounce if it ever made an appearance, her inner puppy surfacing for a quick attack & chase.
The last few years have been hard on her - as a bichon/shih tzu cross her hips began to cause her problems, she gradually lost most of her eyesight and went mostly deaf as well. She had a hard time walking and would often get confused but she always knew where she wanted to be. If it was night time, her preferred spot was snuggled up on my parent's bed and by day it was sleeping on a pillow on the couch or in my stepdad's chair.
She loved treats and always had a 6th sense about when food was possibly being cooked that she felt we could be sharing. It was always funny to watch her eat a piece of carrot that would require serious chewing yet she managed to inhale a piece of steak with it barely touching her tongue.
When it comes to dogs, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one. Yippy fit our family perfectly with her feisty attitude and sweet manners. As they both aged, she and my grandmother comforted each other - both of them having a harder & harder time yet battling against the adversity they both faced without complaint. She was a lovely little dog whose presence will be missed.
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| Yippy with her little brother, Leonard. |
She was a grand old lady at the end, 16 yrs old (yes, that's 112 in dog years, folks!) and had been a very loved & cherished member of our family since joining it in December of 1995.
Ostensibly, Yippy was supposed to be my youngest brother, John's, dog but she really took to my stepdad Bill and loved to sit with him, play with him & even tell him when it was time to go to bed.
She loved to play with John (who was 5 when she became a member of the family and turns 21 in just over 2 weeks). She loved to attack anything he wore on his feet: shoes, socks, slippers but her absolute *favourite* chew toy was his hockey glove. She loved to steal it from his hockey bag and even as she got older, she would just pounce if it ever made an appearance, her inner puppy surfacing for a quick attack & chase.
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| Snoozing In Her Chair. |
She loved treats and always had a 6th sense about when food was possibly being cooked that she felt we could be sharing. It was always funny to watch her eat a piece of carrot that would require serious chewing yet she managed to inhale a piece of steak with it barely touching her tongue.
When it comes to dogs, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one. Yippy fit our family perfectly with her feisty attitude and sweet manners. As they both aged, she and my grandmother comforted each other - both of them having a harder & harder time yet battling against the adversity they both faced without complaint. She was a lovely little dog whose presence will be missed.
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| Gramma & Yippy at Xmas in 2007 |