Baxter

Betsy

I brought Betsy home on July 15, 2008 to be a companion to Daisy. She was about 10 years old then. We called that date "Betsy's Day" and each year afterward celebrated it as her birthday. She was the most precious little thing and we had such good times together. She loved to go for rides. I remember looking over as I was driving and Betsy was standing up on Daisy looking out the window. Daisy didn't care. Sunday mornings she went with my husband to get a paper. He was sure she knew what day it was because she was always ready to go before he was, leading him to the door. She loved the grandkids and they loved her.
 
Then just before Christmas 2011 she showed the first signs of canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome - dementia. She would wake in the night and coming running up to me, happy as she could be and ready to get up. She had always been such a good sleeper. After a couple nights of that, I took her in to have my vet check her and he found nothing wrong to explain it. She seemed much the same otherwise. She had arthritis and already was on a med for that but life was still good.
 
Because of the arthritis, the walks had become shorter but she had still wanted to go. We carried her up and down the garage steps to go out/in. Then at some point she started to became lost or to get stuck in corners in the house so we kept her in 2 rooms unless we went with her. The waking at night became more frequent and she paced, both day and night. Prescriptions and OTC meds to help for sleep had limited success. I had my vet on speed dial. She still ate well but periodically would refuse a food she had been eating so I became creative finding foods she would eat. She wanted nothing to do with dog beds but laid under the kitchen table instead from the first day she was here. As the dementia progressed she stopped doing that. I made a soft bed on the floor in the kitchen for her and she started sleeping there during the day, many times with her pal Daisy beside her. She slept more and more during the day.
 
She stopped barking, stopped responding to her name, stopped wanting to play or walk, stopped being able to eat her beloved Greenies or the carrots that she loved. She lost everything, ever so gradually. The one thing she remembered to the end was going into the living room in the evening. She would still go over and put her little nose against the gate and wait. In good times she sat with me on the sofa while I read or watched TV. Later she would pace and then lay down on a fluffy blanket on the floor and sleep. The last few weeks that's where she and I slept. I no longer even tried to take her to the big bed. When she slept I slept what I could on the sofa. When she woke I took her out and then she paced until she slept again. 
 
My long time vet left and I had to depend on a new one, which literally brought me to my knees. Lab work done on her not so very long before she died showed her kidneys, liver, glucose levels still okay. But before the end she started drinking more and more and the newer vet believed her kidneys were failing. She was so weak and thin that we could not go on. She died on February 11, 2013. 
 
Ronald  Reagan said many years ago after his diagnosis of dementia that it was "the long goodbye". Even though we went through it for more than a year with her and I knew how it would end, my heart is broken. I tried so hard to keep her comfortable and loved her so much. We were blessed to have found her at DDR.  

Blossom

Blossom
have lost my sweet baby girl, Blossom. (Formerly Patsy) When I got her over 6 years ago, she hid in the corner for months. With time, love and patience she blossomed into the best dog ever for me. We had such a bond! I was her human and she was my baby girl. In February she started having breathing problems. Long story short, the doctors couldn't figure out what was causing it. It turned out to be that she was allergic to my new leather couch. I got rid of the couch and she improved. Then she got sick again. This time it was a bowel obstruction. She had surgery on Labor Day and passed away on Saturday September 6th. My heart is broken and physically hurts. It was not on my radar that she might not make it. Love your doxies well...you just don't know how long you will have them. Thank you DDR for bringing her into my life! It just wasn't long enough.

Brady
Brady was an amazing Doxie. He was the first double dapple deaf dachshund we had seen. He was such a puppy when he first came into our home with Gus and Bernie in 2007. He was adopted for many years but returned to us this year as he had developed bladder cancer. We tried so hard to save him, one thing God has taught us in rescue is you can take great care of a lot of dogs but you can't save them all :( Brady so loved his been by the back patio door so he could bask in the sunshine and look outside, when he was feeling better he loved being outside with us. Yet another boy that took a big piece of our hearts. Rest in peace our furry friend.