Yesterday we said goodbye to our sweet, sweet Holly, how we will miss her! Thursday afternoon she seemed a little under the weather, not like her happy little energetic self. She had a rough night, I heard her around 4:00 a.m. and got up to check on her, she had had an accident and threw up near her bed. Kent cleaned everything up (I love that man!) and let her outside. She went down the stairs to her doghouse and didn't come back up, very strange, especially because it was a windy, cold night. Before Kent went to work a couple of hours later he went out to check on her, she didn't want to come in. An hour later I went out to see her, same thing. But Stefanie was worried so I went back out pulled her out of her doghouse, brought her inside and tucked her in her bed. She seemed so sick and tired. I petted and spoke to her before I left for work, I told her I loved her and thanked her for being a wonderful blessing for our family. I'm so glad those were my last words to her! Both Kent and Stefanie did the same, we all had a feeling. When Stefanie arrived home from school that afternoon Holly wouldn't wake up, she had passed away sometime during the day. Sadness! We held a tearful little family memorial last night and buried her in the backyard under the cherry tree. How we will miss her! What joy, happiness and unconditional love she brought to our family for the last eight years.
Rest in peace, little Hollydog. I hope there are plenty of patches of warm sunshine for you to sleep in. I hope you have a soft blanket to lie on, and plenty of tasty food to eat. I hope someone will pet you and play with you often, and take you for a walk every day. I hope there are lots of critters for you to run after and bark at, and open doors for you to escape through. We can hardly wait to be with you again. We love you.
Love, your family
Things we loved about Holly:
When she would see or hear something going on outside she would act disgusted and give a little snort.
In the morning she would stretch her little body and shake out her ears.
In the morning she would come down stairs into Stefanie's hallway, she would open Stefanie's door with a little squeak, then sniff all over until she either got in bed with Stefanie, or run out the door.
When someone would come home she would be so delighted to see them she would give a little squeaky squeal and run all over the house to show how happy she was to see us.
He little chin propped on the floor, and her big eyes looking around, her eyebrows up. If we said her name or spoke to her she would waggle her tail.
ONe year we went to Preston for Thanksgiving. Stefanie was about 10 years old. We all went around the table and said what we were thankful for. Stefanie was thankful for Holly.
We would get her excited to run outside and get the cat or bird or cow or any creatures. We would say, Go get it Holly! And she would tear down the stairs but she could never catch anything.
We could hear her coming up the stairs, running into the house.
Braden would feed her his boogers. We all thought it was so gross but Braden would say she liked it.
If she were hungry or thirsty she would always let us know. She would bump her dish with her nose or often she wanted us to follow her to her food dish. We loved the sound of her crunching her food and slurping up her water.
When she was little she would take one little nugget of food, take it over to the carpet and eat it there.
When she would hear the can opener she would run over because she thought we were opening something for her to eat.
She loved the back yard. She liked to run across the grass and jump on the trampoline with us.
She was ticklish. in between her paw hairs. She would twitch. If we blew in her ear she would shake her ears around and show her teeth.
Every afternoon she would find a patch of sunshine to lay in and sleep.
She snored, and would dream until we would wake her up.
Every time anyone would open the sliding glass door she would appear and want to go out.
She love her adventures. She would stand at the front door and want someone to let her out. She always came back. She would stand at the front door and whine until someone let her back inside.
Her greatest joy was when someone would say, Holly, walk??? She would get so excited but would never come to let us put on her harness. We would have to grab her little legs and put them in her leash.
Before we got the wooden floor she would sit on the couch all day and look out the window. If she saw another dog outside she would go nuts.
If anything gross or smelly was left on the floor she would chew it up and spread it all over. She especially loved Stefanie's dirty underwear. She chewed up dozens of pairs of Stefanie's dirty underwear.
She loved to shred up plastic bags. We would find pieces all over the room and know she attacked the bag.
If she didn't want to go into her kennel she would lock her legs and refuse to move. Like a stubborn bull. We'd have to physically put her in.
When we had birds in a birdcage she would stand on her little hind legs, bounce up and down and try to catch them.
She liked to play keep away around the coffee table. She was fun to play Keep away with a sock or a bag. She would lock her teeth into it and shake her head back and forth.
When she got scared the hair on her back would darken and stand on edge.
When we took her for a walk down the trail she would watch for the big mean dog who lived next to the trail.
She hated certain people...she would growl at them, especially Aubrey, and Courtney. Even after a long time had passed since she had seen them, she still hated them.
She would burrow and hide under the blankets. She loved being warm.
We took her to St. George and she was only happy in the hotel if all five of us were in the hotel room. If anyone left she would whine at the door until they came back.
If we took her on a long walk she would get tired and refuse to walk anymore so we would have to carry her or drag her along behind us.
In the summer when it was too hot on her walk she would take a break in a shady spot.
On our walks after she pooed on the grass she would try to bury it.
If we went to pet her she would roll over on her back to have you scratch her tummy.
We could squeeze the joints of her front legs and make them wiggle back and forth.
If we needed her to go outside and she didn't want to she would wait until we went first. When we would come back into the house she would race across the yard so she would not be left behind.
Dad would give her little kissy sounds and she would lick his face.
She loved the beanbag. Her favorite sitting spot. She would lick one spot on the beanbag over and over until there was a big wet spot. We would say, Holly, no lickey!!"
She would not put her bottom on a cold floor. If we said, "SIT! She would look at us and not do it. but she would sit her bottom on the carpet.
She was not a fan of little kids. She hated Amy's kids and Billy's kids.
The only commands she would obey is Sit and Stay. Dad taught her to wait to get a piece of food until he would say Ok. Then she would gobble it up.
When we would come home on cold days and let Holly out of her kennel she would go nuts inside her kennel waiting for us to let her out.
Every night Dad would give her a carrot before bed, her nightly snack. Dad would break the carrot in half and Holly knew she got two pieces. She wouldn't lie down in her bed until she had both pieces of her carrot.
When we would let her in the house after being in the back yard all day she would be so happy she would race up and down the hallway, and do figure 8s around the coffee table.
When George would come over she would sit at the top of the stairs and wait to be petted.
When Mae Mae came over for a visit she ran around the beanbag but would only go one way, could not figure out how to beat Mae Mae.
