Doggie Heaven IV

Remember this picture of

Rookie? His chair mate is

Sissy, a shepherd/lab mix.

We acquired Sissy when we lived

in the Keys. She belonged to a

couple that lived in one

of the rental trailers we had

behind our property. She didn't

stay at her home much as you

can see below. She poked a hole

in our screen to see in. With

each visit, the hole got bigger.

Finally, one day the hole was

big enough that she just

hopped through and came

in for a visit! The couple was

moving and couldn't keep her.

They were going to take her to

the "pound," but we couldn't

let them do that. So, Sissy

became our dog.

One of the things Sissy liked to

do was sit on the same palm tree

that Tigger (our cat) like to lay on.

(Previous blog shows that picture.)

She also liked to sit in the

outside swing that dad had

made in his workshop.

She liked it more when we would

sit with her!

Sissy, along with Moe Cat, Tigger,

and Rookie moved with us when

we moved out of the Keys.

*

When we moved to our new home

in the woods, Sissy had a bad

habit of bringing coral snakes to

us. As they dangled in her mouth,

we could see where she had bitten

through their neck right behind

their heads. No matter how we

reprimanded her to leave the

snakes alone, she still would

occasionally bring one to us.

*

One afternoon, Sissy lay in the

cool of the breeze as we went

outside. She didn't respond to

much to us when we called her

name. We could see she had

drool coming out of her mouth.

As we looked around the back

of her, we saw a dead coral snake.

However, this time her luck ran

out. Before she had killed it,

it must have gotten its fangs

into her, dispensing its deadly

venom.

*

We rushed her to the vet. They

had to keep her for three days.

She survived, but the venom

had brought total blindness.

*

It was amazing how she knew

when we came to get her. She

knew our voices. She was so excited

to find her way to us when we

went to the animal clinic to

being her home.

*

Sad to say, our Sweet Sissy within

a week or so went into kidney

failure. The vet Dr. said it was

probably due to the poison

from the snake bite. The only

thing we could do was to

have her put to sleep.

*

Sissy was our last pet (to die) that

we had brought from the Keys. Our

home was now empty of

"Man's Best Friend." This

was the first time in 23 years

that we had no animals to

wake up to, to be with us

throughout the day, and to

go for rides in the car with us.

*

There was an emptiness that

soon was to be filled.