Farewell, Izzie. We Loved You, Girl

Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to a beloved member of our family.

We had to put one of our dogs, Izzie, to sleep.

Before I tell you about yesterday, I think I should first tell you how Izzie came into our lives.

Rewind to February 2008 . My Aunt Lori– after over two years of battling breast cancer — was in the final stages of her fight. Our entire family was up at their family farm visiting one weekend. Lori and her husband had this amazingly adorable Jack Russell puppy named Izzie. They bred these types of dogs, and the mother of this particular litter that Izzie belonged to was their family dog, Ava. Izzie was a special dog to them, because she almost didn’t survive when she was born. When Izzie was born, Ava (the mother) tried to kill her. No one knows why, but my uncle rescued Izzie just in time, and Izzie lived. Lori and her husband worried that something might be wrong with the puppy. Although she checked out fine with the vet, they still opted not to sell her to their broker. They were going to keep her.

(Photo: My Aunt Lori with Ava & Izzie) Our entire family went out to dinner that evening at a local restaurant, and it was then that my uncle indicated that he was thinking about finding a home for Izzie. My aunt was getting sicker, and the cancer was taking its toll. She was unable to take care of a puppy and with a dog so tiny, it was becoming harder for my aunt to bend over and pick the dog up anymore when it wanted attention.

Of course my girls jumped at the opportunity to take this puppy home. We promised Izzie a loving home and that we would spoil her rotten.

The next day, Izzie rode home in our car all the way from Clear Lake, Iowa on a blanket in a cardboard box (with a quick pit stop at the PetSmart in Ankeny) and became a member of our family. She slept in our bed every night from the first night we brought her home. Potty training was a breeze, as she was always such a smart dog. She was lovable, and cuddly, and we wondered how we ever lived without such a great dog in our lives.

The veterinarian’s office loved having Izzie come stay on the weekends we were gone out of town, and she was such a friendly dog. She would wag her tail and lick us to death when it was time to pick her up and go home. She loved to chase squirrels in the front yard, and we were positive one day she would catch one.

Over the last year, though, something changed in Izzie. Although she wasn’t very old (only turning three this past winter), she grew increasingly more aggressive and
very protective of me and the kids. She had started to snap at people, even snapping at the kids occasionally. We knew if it escalated, we would have to make some tough decisions. Over the last couple months, she had gotten temperamental enough by now that we began keeping her away from strangers and locking her up when people came over the house. When the girls had friends over, they were not allowed to pick Izzie up or even pet her because we were worried how she would react. We just never knew which people she would react negatively towards– because she was very choosy.

A couple weeks ago, one of the final straws was when my youngest daughter had a dog brush in her hand and approached Izzie to brush her. Izzie turned around and bit Courtney’s hand. It barely broke the skin and left a circle of tiny teeth marks. We knew then that this the beginning of the end.

We took both of our dogs to the vet when we went out of town over the Easter weekend, and I picked them up on Monday afternoon. I talked to the vet and one of the techs about the problems we had been having. They indicated that they occasionally had problems with her as well, but it was only certain people she was aggressive with. She was very consistent as to who she got snippy with and who she didn’t, which I found odd.

Yesterday morning, we had to take her back to the vet, because she had developed a cough and was acting a bit lethargic. During the exam, the vet determined Izzie had a fever and they prescribed antibiotics for her. While my husband waited at the front desk, Izzie walked over to another customer waiting at the office and bit her– without any warning. Just bit her. She didn’t break any skin, THANK GOD. But still, we have no idea what prompted her to do it.

My husband immediately called me at work, and we made the decision to have her put to sleep. We knew that once a dog starts biting people, it is only going to get worse. And we needed to stop this before someone got seriously hurt.

I walked into the vet’s office and they quickly ushered me back to the exam room where the tech already had Izzie waiting. She greeted me with her usual tail-wagging and excited body-wiggling and of course, I immediately burst into tears. The vet explained the procedure and gave us a few minutes to say our goodbyes.

I feel better knowing we were there with her when she took her final breaths, and she was happy while she was ours. When they were ready to begin the procedure, I picked Izzie up and hugged her. She licked the tears off my face, and it was the first time in my life I had ever felt such a tremendous gut-wrenching ache over saying goodbye to a pet. I then held her in my arms, laid her down on the table, and I softly petted her the whole time while she was going to sleep.

She knew she was loved.

While the vet reassured us over and over that this was the right decision, it was not even close to being an easy one for us. Our kids were devastated, and rightfully so. It’s going to be hard for all of us, because she became a part of our family these past three years. I knew that losing this dog was going to be so much harder than losing our puppy a little over a year ago. These dogs are my babies, and even our last remaining dog, Bella, is feeling the loss already. Although we are still greeted with a wagging of Bella’s tail when she sees us, she simply eminates sadness as she just knows that Izzie is not in the house anymore.

We love you Izzie. We took care of you as long as we could, and now it is time for Aunt Lori to have you back.