Gone

On Tuesday we had to say goodbye to our Tiger-dog. 

Tiger was more than a dog to me.  I got her about 3 weeks after Drew died.  A friend at work had rescued a dog that showed up at another co-workers home.  Turns out that dog was pregnant with 8 puppies.  Tiger was one of those puppies.  When I picked her out there were only 2 puppies left that needed a home.  My co-worker had snuck them into the office and she slept the whole time I tried to play with her.  I thought, "I could totally do a dog that is so chill."  HA!  Least "chill" dog I've known. 

She would often sit like this in the car or the house.  We would have some good laughs when she would "sit" next to us on the couch, she would turn around and just back up onto the couch.

She was a great distraction, she was sweet, funny, and kept me busy.  She would come love on me when I was upset.  There were multiple occasions when I would end up in a ball on the floor, in tears and with cries of why.  My Tiger would be there nudging me, licking me, and laying next to me. 

She tried to be friends with a skunk on more than one occasion.  She loved to play in water and go swimming.  She didn't like baths, but wouldn't fight you while you were scrubbing her down.  She adapted to sleeping in when I wanted to, but would wake my parents up at 4:30 (or earlier) while staying with them to go outside.  So, she knew who she could play.  The boys loved to give her people food.  She was afraid of the chihuahua that lived across the street from us in Opelika, but would try to eat one of the neighbors when he would come in our yard.  If a cat was in the house she would try to play with it, outside she would chase it.  

Wesley and Tiger trying to figure each other out.

Hanging out in the yard.

She was HUGE.  She had really long legs and I would tell people that she was half dog/half horse.  She was 90 pounds of crazy, big, black dog.  She possibly bit some of you reading this.  If you tried to pet her and she didn't know you, sorry, she probably nipped your fingers.  But if she loved you, good luck getting her to leave you alone.  My friends Rachel and Lisa were two of her favorite people.  As soon as she saw them she would run up to them and flop over on her back.  They would rub and rub her belly, with her long legs hitting them and scratching them as they loved on her.  She would then jump up let them pet her back for about a second before she flopped over for them to rub her belly again.  She also loved my mom and dad.  I lived with them when I got her as a puppy, so they were her "parents" too.  She would go nuts when she saw them.  She loved going to their house where she could run around the pastures, roll in cow poop, and go swimming in the pond.  When I took her there the first of July I knew it was the right thing.  She took off in the pasture and ran for 10 minutes straight, taking a swim in the pond in the middle of her run.  She needed the space, she needed to be away from the full house and baby who would try to run over her in his walker. 

Laying in the sun.  The hottest day, and this crazy dog was laying in the yard soaking it all in.

Spending some time with the family outside.

When I took her to mom and dad's and she ran, and ran, and ran.

The following is because I need to write this out for myself.  You can read how she died, or you can stop now.  It's not gruesome, but it is what it is. 

To make a long/crazy story short she had been at my parents house for about 3 weeks.  We live in a 1400 sq. ft. house and over the summer there were often 6 people living here.  It was tight, and we don't have a fenced in yard.  So Tiger was stressed and having some skin issues because of the stress (and passing some of the skin issues onto Wesley).  So I took her to my parents to get some of that taken care of and give her a break.  I was planning on going down there today, Thursday, to get her.  Tuesday morning there were storms all over the state, including my parents house.  Tiger had gotten out of the pen during multiple storms while staying at their house.  But there was only about an hour time between when my mom left for work and when my dad would get home from work, and it wasn't raining when mom left.  She fought and fought with the gate until she finally got it open, bending the gate handle and dragging it across concrete (it would get caught when swinging it into the pen) until she got it open.  During the process she was fighting the gate so hard that she broke her back, and likely continued to fight the gate even after she had injured herself.  She then used her front feet to pull herself up onto the carport, where my dad found her.  Her strength is what broke her back. 

John and I were able to get to the vet's office to tell her goodbye.  I was able to love on her, scratch her nose the way she liked and rub behind her ears.  She will always hold a special place in my heart.  She helped me get through some really dark days and I always loved coming home to those sweet and loving eyes.