Thirty Days...of Chloe - Day 1

For the past several years I have done variations of 30 Days of Thanks for November. I've done 30 days of coffee cups, 30 days of my Pugs closet and this year I will be doing 30 Days of Chloe. I guess I will call it her "sending off" party. That girl sure loved a party and life and I must trudge thru the sadness in my heart and remember ALL the happy she brought to me and will continue to bring with me from my heart. Bear with us because we took TONS of photos.

She came to us on January 6, 2003 - her first month

That first day picking her up.

The car ride home

The new cage

So small!

Always playing it seemed

or snuggling

or playing some more



Napping with mama

the first of many bench photos

Bugging the Bugsy

Her basket

the pink ball we still have!

Baby Kitty never really got over Chloe coming to live with us!

What a blast we had with her!

Happy Halloween

 

and so it goes.....

We are getting by those first few days in a daze.  So much has changed since those first days of blogging.  We saw many friends come and go.  Many lost their furbabies and we joined them in sorrow and then they left.  Back then I could not understand why they stopped blogging or dropping by, but now I can see how the sadness can make it nearly impossible to carry on with things.  I am not sure how I would get thru this without my husband and my furbabies and all of you.  Those on facebook, instagram, blog friends, meetup friends...people I met thru my etsy shop.  Everyone's comments, well wishes, and good thoughts have meant so much to me. From the day of diagnosis 6 months ago to now it nearly seems impossible that this has happened.  We all love them, try to keep our babies well and alive and then grieve in only a way we can understand when they pass. We were blessed that our girl had 6 wonderful months with us post diagnosis. At that time I remember praying that she would just make it thru Summer. I'm sure if you have looked back in our blog her favorite place in the world being at our camp. She was the queen. We got her as a puppy in 2002 - she was born on the 2 year anniversary of my mom's death. She filled and overflowed a void that was in my heart. She welcomed 5 furry brothers and sisters into our home over the following years. She never missed a beat. She was never any trouble. She didn't chew, bark or get into anything. She was never sick. Two weeks ago we took her with us for a last day at camp. We took out "her chair" and lite a fire...even though it was daytime. We didn't speak about why we were doing this...we just did. She sat in the sun by her fire for the afternoon. At the end of the day, we loaded the chair into the truck  knowing it would not be used by her there at camp again. On this past Friday..her last earthly day, we took this chair to our patio and made a fire in the fire pit. We asked her if she wanted to "go to camp" and watched her little ears perk up. We sat outside with her for the next two years and talked about how she had come to be with us and her life. We told her how much we loved her. We put the fire out and took a long drive to the lake to listen to the waves. None of us will ever forget our babies. RIP Chloe 11-12-02 to 10-24-14...heaven has gained another angel. 

Run free baby girl

Today we said goodbye to our beautiful Chloe - a chunk of my heart went with her. 

Sisters

Zoey decided to hang out with Chloe this morning and give her some comfort. 

So many memories!

This photo reminds me of how silly and fun owning these little Pugs are!  This is way back when we first started our blog.  Our second Halloween owning Pugs.  Since it seemed these two were "all about eatting" I decided to make them into burger meals.  We had a lot of fun that year with the "Burger Sisters"!

No matter how many beds in the house...

They all still want the same one!

Throwback Thursday

Wayyyyyyyyyyyyy back with my honey.....before Pugs!

Sad news....

Sadly the news is not good for Chloe. Our vet can not remove the tumor as it is 4 times the size of the first tumor. She can come home after 2 today and we will see how things go for a couple of days. We have to make the right decision for her and not be selfish. It is so easy to just want to keep them here forever, but as their caretakers WE must do what is best for them, not us. Although my heart is shattered into a million pieces, I have to think about her and all the unconditional love she has given to me over the past 12 years. She saved my broken heart after my mom died. I owe her making a good choice for her.

Holding our breath

Chloe has not been doing well this week. She does not want to drink from water bowl, so she became dehydrated this morning.  It is hard to say if the cancer has taken over or the tumor hurts her mouth so bad she is afraid to drink.  Her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow....the vet will evaluate her in the morning to see if it is even still an option.  These are hard days for sure......

Hats hats hats

Some hats I've made - great for simple costumes or to keep furry noggins warm!

Changing seasons

Today we took out screen porch down at camp. Miss Chloe went along.  We even gave her a campfire! Bittersweet day all around.

Bed hog?

Our son has moved in with his large hairy dog. Normally the pugs have a row of beds so that they have the option of sleeping alone, but his dog keeps getting the beds all hairy and flattens them. I thought pugs could shed...she has them beat 10 fold.  So I was washing some of the beds and when I came downstairs saw this.....

Seems Chloe found her comfy alone place, Kiki too.....the others piled up before barley could big that bed...she got the floor.

Dogs and babies...

We are teaching our grandaughter about the proper treatment of pets.  Much like I remember teaching my own children.  We must remember they are dogs and it is up to us to be sure the interactions go smoothly.  Yesterday's photo made me think about how Little Miss B seems to really love Miss Chloe over all the others.  She will seek her out and lay with her and hug her every chance she gets.  Maybe she knows her days are short on this Earth and wants to put her stamp on her!  I like to think someday Miss B will have a memory of these Pug filled days at grammie's house.   Where is all this going?  Well, I came across this information on FB and it reminded me that we have to remember to teach them.  We have to be cognizant that our furry family and human one need to learn to understand each other.  We need not to make bad choices and end up giving up on our pets.  We need to remember to teach our children and grandchildren how to be kind to animals.  It's up to us to imprint goodness on them.  It's up to us to be the guardians of good behavior.

I'm glad my parents took the time to teach me....

Chloe update

Miss Chloe had a vet appointment today.  We were pretty certain her mouth tumor had returned and the vet confirmed.  She is doing very well otherwise.  The tumor aggravates her while she tries to eat and we all know how important it is for a pug to eat!  We are five months since diagnosis of the oral melanoma.  Just short of that on the removal.  The vet is suggesting we remove as much as possible to keep her as comfortable as possible.  He believes the tumor will def reappear and faster, but seeing how good she still is we are not ready to give up on her yet.  Bloodwork is being done to verify white blood cell count and liver functions.  

Here she is resting with our grand baby after her appointment.  Keep us in your prayers please.

The pugboat ends another season

This year taking the boat out is especially bittersweet.  While none of us know our own fate or what tomorrow brings, we know that our sweet Chloe will most likely be the queen of the ship come next year.  Sadly her cancer is taking its toll on our girl.  She has pent many summers on the boat for sure an we have many wonderful memories of all those crazy boat rides!

We did have a small photoshoot before hitting road.

Safe Journey Sweet Isabelle

Please visit our friends over at Southern Fried Pugs and give their mama a cyber hug.  Sweet Isabelle, never to be outdone on plans, decided that today she would join her brother across the bridge.  We have "known" these bloggers for many Pug moons, but finally got to meet them in person this past May.  As with many Pug Crazy friends we meet, just as we expected them to be...GREAT.  God speed Isabelle.  May your path be covered in hamburgers. xoxo

Orange for Andrea

The orange for Andrea project is still going on.  Andrea blogged for many years about her pugs and rescue.  Her bad pug Chester is one for the books with his antics.  Andrea is battling Leukemia and could use the support.  If you purchase and are on Facebook be sure to tag your photo #Orange4Andrea - over 800 bowties have been purchased!  To purchase visit: 

http://www.underdogsupplies.com/products/Andreas-bow-tie-in- orange

I always dreamed she would love pugs....

Before our little B was reality I collected pug story books and stuffed animals dreaming our little one would love pugs....and she does!

She was hanging out with Chloe on Saturday morning watching a DVD.

The miss B had to go eat breakfast and Chloe kept her spot ready for her!

So.....

September snuck up on us and we missed this little guy's Gotcha Day! Can it be 3 years?

Chloe

Chloe and Miss B had a talk the other morning.  Chloe is hanging tough and has passed the vets prognosis for cancer survival with no treatment! She had had a wonderful summer and we treasure it all!

Kiki was hoping for a few more sunny days!

Mini meetup

This past weekend we had a mini meetup.  Some of you may know these two - Suzan, who blogs up Too Cute Pugs and Jess who "used" to blog for Clover.  Jess and I have traveled together before, but now in addition to her Pugs has a human baby and another on the way! The weekend was too short as they always are!  Until next time!

Throwback Thursday

Throwing it back to June of 2006 with "baby" Zoey and her big sister Chloe.

 

Mirror image pugs

sadness behind the smiles

I can't fathom being that low. I've been low, I've been sad and it surely breaks my heart to think that someone felt so very low that there was no hope, no light, no reason to go on. Let his legacy be that there is always hope. Always a brighter tomorrow. Always hope.

Robin and his Curly Tail Pug Rescue boy

Pug and pigtails!