Paige

Paige was born February 9, 1995. Her mother, Brittany, a yellow lab, was my sister's dog. Her father was their neighbor's Siberian Husky and I don't recall his name. She was light brown with husky markings and beautiful blue eyes. I first saw her when she was 1 day old. When she was 5 weeks old, she became mine.

She was a playful puppy and the first canine that I'd had in probably 10 years. She was an interesting dog. She was spayed at 6 mos., but she mothered all my other outdoor animals. She was very overprotective of my cats at times. They miss her so much, too. I even had chickens for awhile, just 2, and they'd go in her dog house with her at night and when it was raining. I'd come home and see Paige in her house with the cats and the chickens, like she was their mother. Sometimes, they'd all be inside the house and she'd be lying in front like their guardian. When I gave the chickens to a friend, Paige was at a loss for quite sometime.

A few months ago, Paige started getting stove up. She had a hard time running and sometimes even walking. This progressed to the point where she had a hard time getting up. She was once clocked at 30 MPH, so this was quite alarming. She was obviously in much pain.

One morning, she was about the worse I'd seen her. She was bunny hopping, not moving her back legs now. It seemed like she was trying to tell me something was really wrong and to help her. I brought her to the vet and it was discovered that she had severe arthritis in her back legs and the patella on one knee kept dislocating when she'd move, grinding like sandpaper. The real option for her comfort was cortisone shots. The vet felt that her case was so severe that she'd need mega doses of the drug to make her feel better, though she'd never feel good again. This would bring on heart and liver damage. He didn't think she had more than 6 mos before she'd need to be put down.

It was a very hard decision, but I chose to put her down now rather than putting her through more suffering. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes for the last time was me telling her I love her.

She died July 16, 1999.

The cats are lost without her, they wander around looking for her. It's a shock to me, too. I love her so much. And, I miss her. Sometimes, I wonder if I made the right decision, but after I left the clinic that morning, I was filled with such a feeling of peace and relief that I'm sure I did. One of the workers there told me that she had an old dog and when the end came, her dog let her know that "it was time." I feel that's what Paige was trying to tell me that morning in a way.

Paige February 9, 1995 - July 16, 1999

Survived by her humans, Becky, Benna, and Grandma and her two feline friends, whom she thought were her children, Shadow & Chief, who all miss her dearly.