Breed:Daschund Mix

Gender:Female

Birthdate:1998

Died: January 4th, 2005

(Click photos for full size images).

Lizzy was a "Daschund mixed with something tall", as I always told people who asked what kind of dog she was. We never did figure out what else was in the mix, but it didn't matter to us. We loved her no matter what breeds she was!

We decided to add another dog to the family in the spring or summer (we can't agree on it) of 2000, and started scanning the newspaper ads.
Almost immediately, an ad in the Everett Herald caught my eye, and I called on it. She sounded like just what we were looking for, so we arranged to visit her the same day.
We loaded up our other dog, Gina, and my daughter (both pictured with Lizzy, to the right) into the car and went to go meet Lizzy and her humans. As it turned out, not only was she friendly with other dogs and cats, but with pet rats as well, which is good, cause we have all 3! We fell in love with her right away and in minutes there was no question that she was meant to go home with us. She fit right in and before long, it was as if she'd been with us the entire time.

She had the typical daschund curiosity ... And propensity for getting into things ... And was taller so she could get into more! LOL. One Doxy trait she didn't have was the impatience that I have seen in so many of that breed. (And I've seen a LOT, since my family bred daschunds for years). She had a very sweet disposition and was always ready to play or give kisses.
Lizzy loved to play fetch and tug of war, and thought that squeaking her squeaky toys was loads of fun, but her favorite game of all was "Get the Badger". That's where we would put a hand (or foot, or anything we could wiggle) under the covers and have her chase it around. Sometimes it would "get her" back. She would play that game for as long as you would play it with her, and she was funny as hell playing it too, growling ferociously and racing and pouncing all over the place!

She spent 4 love-filled years with us, before her daschund blood (most likely) became her undoing. She either slipped or ruptured a disk, as far as the vet could tell, and she went downhill quickly. She lost the use of her entire hind end, and despite our willingness to be there to provide the care that she would need, she was just not happy at all, and so we made the decision to let her go. When we took her back to the vet for her final appointment, she seemed more cheerful than she had since the onset of her problems. She happily ate the many handfulls of treats we gave her and was more affectionate than she had been for the almost a week of hanging on.

We were there with her until the end, and as we were saying our goodbyes, I saw something I have never seen before in my life... crystal clear tears coming from her eyes. I had never seen a dog cry actual tears before that, but I have 2 witnesses. She cried and licked my hand during those last goodbyes. She knew, and I think she was trying to tell me it was okay. In any case, This was the hardest decision I have ever made in my life and I hope to not be faced with it again for a very long time, if EVER!
Our little Lizzy Borden will live forever in our hearts and memories until we meet again at that Rainbow Bridge.