Goodbye by Joshy Boy...

I had been married for almost a year. My boss, Carolyn had gotten a little Lhasa Apso puppy named Chelsea who came to our office everyday. I fell head over heels in love with little Chelsea and begged Mike for us to get a puppy just like her. We called a family who was selling one Lhasa Apso in the newspaper and made arrangements to go see him. When we walked into the courtyard in their backyard, this little fur ball on a patio chair growled this pathetic puppy growl at us and gave a little yelp. I said in what would be my first sentence in a "mother" voice..."oh you be quiet", and walked over to scratch him behind the ears. We talked to the people, played with the puppy they had named Muffin, thanked them and drove away. About halfway down the street Mike said..."turn around...let's go get him." And a few minutes later, we drove off with our new puppy Joshua the Lhasa Apsah...which is what we named him. He visited everyone in the family that day and although I promised Mike he would NOT sleep with us...that first night he yelped so much down on the floor by our bed that he ended up curled up in between our feet on the bed right along side us. That's where he slept ever since. Well...except for 1/2 of the time he lived with my parents. See, we shared custody. Their dog Molly had separation anxiety and needed her best friend (our dog Josh) to prevent her from tearing up the house. So we shared custody of Josh and Molly, keeping the two dogs together for the better part of these past 15 years. These dogs lived together in Washington DC, Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska and of course, California.

Today, after a wonderful 15 years of life, we let our Joshy Boy join his best friend Molly in Heaven when we put him to sleep because of breathing complications due to old age. He was our first baby. And when we realized we were infertile, he filled a void in our lives that we needed so very badly. He had a great life. He lived inside, slept in either our bed or in a bed in my parents room. He was the best traveled dog that ever was. We often joked that he got to pee in every place from Yosemite to the National Capitol Mall. He climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, hiked the Shenandoah National Forrest, swam in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, survived tornadoes in Nebraska and blizzards in both Colorado and Washington DC. He was a couch potato and spent most days curled up in a little fluff ball while someone petted him. He got gourmet dog food, gourmet treats and was treated like a little king most of the time.

He loved to chase squirrels, but he wasn't very fast. My favorite memory of Josh was when we were living in DC. The squirrels would come in our yard and torment Josh while Mike and I were at work. So Mike (who IS really fast) would hold Josh like a football and together they would chase squirrels all over the neighborhood. Josh's tail would be wagging so hard as I watched them run off from behind that it would wag in circles. Our neighbors must have thought we were crazy...seeing human running as fast as he could, carrying fluff ball dog chasing the squirrels in the neighborhood on our military base.

Josh, we will miss you. Thank you for knowing just when I needed to feel like I was a mother and helping me make it until my babies came. Thank you for loving my babies so much that you worried so much about them when they were infants just like a crazy little mother. You were so good to my babies, going in whatever room they were in and being so patient when they climbed on you, pulled your tail and your fur. You never bit anyone (except for that 3 legged cat, the guinea pig, baby robin, mouse and that one slow squirrel) and you were gentle, patient and kind. You always let Molly eat first and eat your food. You never ever were aggressive with another dog or person. You loved to play with Mike and my Dad and you loved loved loved to be in my mom's lap. Mostly, I just loved being your human mom and protecting you during lightening and wind storms as well as from those scary burglars that one night. A watch dog you were not. A loving, gentle soul that was one of my best friends I've ever had, you were that and so much more. Thank you for always being happy to see me and for never making us feel sorry for one second that we turned our car around and came and got you. And you are welcome for not having to go through life with the name Muffin. We love you baby, sleep well and be at peace.