In Memory of Piper

The day we brought her home!  So little!

Today we had to say goodbye to our dear Piper.  A lot of the following I'm just going to repost from Facebook from things Glenn and I wrote since I'm not up to coming up with a lot of new thoughts. 

The year we moved into our house.  She loved to be outside in her very own yard!

From Glenn:  Today we had to give our wonderful dog Piper back to God. She was a blessing to us in so many ways I can only begin to explain. She kept us warm at night, she made us go outside and exercise when we otherwise would have sat around indoors, she comforted us when we were sick, injured, and sad. She was absolutely the best canine big sister Olivia could have had, she stoically endured the tugging, tackling, poking, and prodding that comes from a baby and young child, honestly better than I could have. She destroyed just enough of our things to remind us that possessions are not really that important. I am glad that she was not in great pain and I believe she was happy. Despite the emotional pain I will always be glad that I was able to say good-bye and be with her at the end. She brought so much joy to so many people that I thank God she was brought into our lives. Piper, you will be sorely missed.

Watching over a sleeping baby Olivia.

She loved to be wherever we were, and that included the kitchen - especially if I was cooking.

Wrestling with Olivia.  I still can't believe the things she would put up with!

From me:  The first day Piper came to live with us was over seven years ago. She was so tiny then, and so crazy active, but very sweet. Over the years she has calmed down and we couldn't have asked for a more patient, tolerant, and loving dog for Olivia. She has brought so much joy to our lives. I can't believe we have to say goodbye today.  We got Piper before we knew if we would be able to have children of our own and had her for five years before Olivia came along so in many ways she was our first child.  She filled a void in my life with her own special kind of unconditional love.  When I was dealing with my depression she would comfort me.  When I was dealing with the panic attacks she would cuddle up to me and would ease my anxiety.  I never had a real pet before and to be honest I had no idea I could get this attached or that it would hurt this much to have to let her go.  I know she's not a person, but she truly was part of our family.
Olivia's first word was, "Piper" and you can go to the post and watch the video of it here if you want.  And here is the post of video of Olivia laughing hysterically at Piper when she was about 7 months old.
For those of you that don't know and are wondering, we found out a month ago that Piper had kidney disease. We put her on a special diet and took her back in yesterday to have her follow-up bloodwork. She was much worse, despite our best efforts, and her kidneys had all but failed. She did not feel good and had no appetite so she has been losing a lot of weight and she was sleeping 98% off the day. We noticed she seemed to be losing some weight and not have as much energy, but we chalked a lot of  it up to her getting older - it happened so gradually.  It was a very hard decision. She still perked up, however briefly, when we would come home and would still cuddle with us...but we didn't want to wait until she was absolutely miserable and truly suffering.  When we talked to the vet he actually said, "You can take her home to say goodbye, but I wouldn't suggest more than a day or two."  That let us know that for her own good we truly needed to make the tough call to let her go.

Olivia "reading" to Piper.  The love sure went both ways with those two!