Little Dogs

[PhiPsiRuss]

My mom had to put Daisy to sleep today.

I saw her yesterday, and it was the right thing to do. She couldn't stand up, and wasn't eating or drinking. This morning she cried, and when my ran to her, she was on her side having a seizure.

My mom said that she'll rescue another Cairn, but its been a sad day for me.

Originally posted by PhiPsiRuss
My mom's Cairn, Daisy, is (we think) 16, and she is getting old. She does now have arthritis, and is almost completely blind and deaf. Daisy was full of energy until she was about 14, and you can tell that she still has that Cairn attitude, and wants to do Cairn things, but her body won't let her.

My mom got Daisy in 1989. Sam, the mutt that I grew up with, was put to sleep at the age of 17. When my mom went to the vet to pay the bill, the vet offered Daisy, a homeless Cairn Terrier, to my mom for free. Another client of the vet gave it away. This woman, whom we don't know, owned two Doberman Pinchers. She was walking them one day when a scary looking, probably homeless man, said to her, "hey lady, you wanna buy a dog for $20?" She didn't really want another dog, but this was a scared, and emmaciated dog. She bought her to save her, and named her Daisy. Daisy soon gained her weight back, but it really wasn't fair to have this 12 pound Cairn in the same home as two fully grown Dobermins. Daisy terrorized them to the point where they were cowering in a corner all the time. Daisy's then owner hired a pet psychologist, and was told that nothing could be done. So, she gave Daisy to her vet.

A week after my mom was offered Daisy, she went to the vet, and picked her up. This was a happy dog. What my mom didn't realize was that Daisy wasn't her dog. My mom was Daisy's person. This is the way with Cairn's. They don't really bark for things, they act cute. Daisy would jump two feet up onto a couch, and prance onto your chest, and look at you nose-to-nose and smile. If you didn't react, she would lick you. It was time to be walked, or fed.

We were told that Daisy was about 2, but she could have been older. Its so sad to see a dog, who has been filled with so much life, enter her final years.

Soon after my mom got Daisy, a woman walked up to Daisy on the street, and started crying, almost uncontrollably. She had just put her Cairn to sleep, and she saw Daisy walking around like she owned the city. She missed her little dog with so much heart, that her heart grew to match that of the little terrier.

They are the best dogs.