She spent a month in foster care with rescue volunteers, Virgina, Stephen and Saxon Slowik. Then she went to live with the McDonnells (who had always had taken in the older/sick hard to place dogs) for about 6 months until Jerri was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and finally she came to me for 4 months. Spending that much time with a dog, we all came to feel that she was “our” dog. Nina was very well mannered in the house, knew some obedience commands and had such a wonderful disposition that it was obvious to all of us that someone had loved and cared for her for a long time. Perhaps her health issues become too much for them, and they let her go thinking someone would take her into their home. Well, five of us, or six if you counted Rochelle, the dog walker, got to "own" Nina for various lengths of time. Things I remember about Nina: she loved to lay outside under a favorite bush at the Slowiks and dig for worms so we nicknamed her the “Worminator” (she also searched for worms in the grass during spring rainfalls); she did not like the sound of a microwave beeping or any kind of beeping sound and would bark and bark until you either muted the TV or distracted her with a carrot; her stubby little tail was ALWAYS wagging; she’d climb a flight of 15 stairs so she could sleep next to my bed; and she slept most of the day on her comfy dog bed in the living room. I affectionately called her “Nini Panini”.
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| Nina in the Slowicks backyard |
Her first day with
me, she fell asleep in the living room and I didn’t have the heart to wake her so I went upstairs
and left her sleeping in the living room.
At 1:30 AM I was awakened by the sound of thump, thump, thump and huff,
huff, puff and here came Nina up the stairs to find me. When I woke her up at 5:45 AM so we could get
in a walk and time to pee and poop before I left for work, she rolled over,
opened one eye and gave me a look like “You’ve got to be kidding!” I told her if she lived here, this was the
time we got up during the week. She
didn’t play much w/toys but did have brief spurts of energy when I first came
home and for 5 minutes she would bring me a tennis ball to throw and she’d
catch it or she’d pick up the big soft green “mousey” toy and shake it and
bring it to me for a tug of war. Then
she’d go take a nap before dinner!
Because of her PLN, she needed to go outside every 3 to 3 ½ hrs so I had
to hire a dog walker to come in twice a day.
She’d lie by the doorway waiting for Rochelle to come and the last month
of her life, Rochelle would bring her to her house for the day since we were in
thunderstorm mode and Nina was afraid of the storms. She’d just pace and couldn’t seem to settle
down. At Rochelle’s she would greet all
the day residents, fling a toy around for a brief moment and then go in the den
to her corner and sleep the rest of the day, unless the doorbell rang, then she
would be up and checking things out with the rest of the dogs. She was Rochelle’s first Airedale client and
she loved her too.
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| Nina and foster brother, Saxon Slowik |
The beginning of
July she was having more and more trouble walking, couldn’t get comfortable
even on the orthopedic dog bed, was losing control of her bodily functions, and
finally wasn’t eating or drinking. It
was time to help my friend on her journey.
It’s never an easy decision, but I’m a firm believer of quality of life
for humans and dogs, and Nina’s had gone downhill very quickly. As she passed over the Rainbow Bridge
*Remember Incentive #1 ends Tuesday, August 6th at 8 PM EDT. Your donation makes you eligible to win this beautiful Airedale print.*
What a cutie she was and we are so happy that she had so many foster peeps who loved her - and what a treat to see angel Saxon!
ReplyDeleteThank you for remembering Saxon. He is and was an Angel.
DeleteWhat a lucky girl Nina was! love until the end.. all thanks to rescue.
ReplyDelete