Dear Sandy,
On Oct. 10, 14 years ago I bought one of your silkies. This morning she died around 2 am. About 3 years ago she almost died but made a rally back, this time her age and heart murmur was just too much for her. Whatever she would affected her in the Spring and Fall of the year. I think she had an immunity problem or allergy to what they put on grass.
Annie was such a sharp “little cookie.” Even from her puppy days, we could see that she understood more than she would let on. I think that this gave her the winner edge over us. At times she would not come when I called her. I would turn away from her and say, “I just hate when you don’t obey me.” Then, she could come to me because I called her on not obeying. She knew when we were discussing going out or going on a trip. We all thought she could read minds. I saw this myself when my father was watching television and Annie was on a stool sleeping between my Dad and myself. My Dad didn’t sigh or move but Annie sat up and look at my Dad like he had said something that interested her. I asked him what he was thinking about and he said, “I was thinking about going outside to lock up.” I told him that Annie read his mind. There were other times that she showed us she was very observant. She was “some dog.”
She was so very caring. When she stayed with my parents, I would tell her to take care of my Dad who was ill. I didn’t tell anyone that I told her this. Well, she certainly did take care of him. At night he would go into his bedroom and close the bedroom door. She would bark at him for this. If he left the door open and she could check on him, there was no barking. The funniest thing is that one day my father told me that Annie treated him like he was one of her puppies. She was just doing what I asked her to do.
I remember when I first visited you to talk about buying a silky and met Annie’s half sister. After raising Annie and having met her half sister, I have to say that your silkies really have a great “personalities.” Annie was just like her half sister. One of Annie’s cutie actions was to bring attention to herself by going over to our small trash can and rake her nails down the rough side of it creating a noise. Everyone in the room would usually look at her. She would continue until she received the attention she wanted. My father was crazy about her. Annie sometimes wanted her own way and it would make my father angry. After making him mad, she would then jump up on his lap facing forward on his legs and turn her head to look at my Dad as to say, “What’s wrong?.” My Dad would say, “Look at that face. How can you be mad at her.” We all said that Annie was a happy dog.
Annie was beautiful even at the age 14 years old. She was a gorgeous silky terrier with perfect ears, face, hair and an air that said “I am a winner.” She almost always walked around as a proud winner with her tail up. No, I never put her in any competition, but everyone who met her thought she was a winner. And you probably have figured out she was a winner to me—she won my heart. I miss how she filled the house with her warm spunky spirit that even prevalent through her senior years.
Sandy, I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed her and that she was a little pistol even up to the end. We have many fond memories of her. She was a spunky little thing. She even taught us a good lesson at the end. Even when you don’t feel like it, get up and exercise. She went totally blind about 6 months ago but you would never have guessed it if you saw us walking and running down the street. About 6 months ago (remember she is blind) we even found her going up and down steps at my aunt’s house. She was some dog. We will miss her dearly.
Sincerely,
Polly Mazzella
Dear Polly,
Thanks so so much for letting us know about the last days of your wonderful Annie. Your experience is why I breed dogs.
Leave a Reply