Viva

 Last week was a hard week for our family.  We had to put Viva to sleep on Monday. Andy and I believe it was the toughest thing we have had to do.  She had been sick for several months.  She had lost a lot of weight, and our vet said that there wasn't really much we could do.  At her age, she recommended just loving her until it was time for her to go.  Two weekends ago she stopped eating and drinking.  It was beautiful outside so she spent her time laying in the sun, and watching the kids play one final weekend.

On Monday, she was so weak that she could no longer stand up.  We would carry her outside to lay in the sun, and then we would bring her inside to rest.  We got an appointment for 4:30, and we broke the news to the kids when they got home from school.  They sat around her petting her and crying until it was time for us to go.  It was so hard for Andy to have to pick her up, and take her to the car.  The kids were so heartbroken.  I'm glad they got the opportunity to say goodbye, but it was hard.

We got Viva when Briley was about 7 months old.  She wore us out with all her energy.  She ate through the bathroom wall, chewed up things, ran a track around our yard, and was so darn attention seeking.  Our neighbors all had tennis balls in their yards that she would nudge under the fence so that they would play catch with her.  We always joked that you couldn't make eye contact with her, or she wouldn't leave you alone.  

She never met a stranger, and was not a good watch dog at all. She loved everyone. I never heard her growl, and she never snipped at anyone.  The kids would climb all over her, and she never once acted annoyed.  Any attention was good attention for Viva.

She loved the kids so much, and wanted to be with them always.  We called her Nana from Peter Pan because she truly wouldn't leave their sight.  She was the lifeguard at the pool, she was always in the middle of any game they tried to play, and she slept with them each night.  As she grew weaker, she would come in our bedroom and stare at us until we got up, and carried her upstairs to sleep with the kids.  

As I look through pictures I had to laugh at the fact that she is always right in the midst of them all.  I don't know how many times I had to yell at her to get out of pictures.  She is sitting right by the kids as they celebrated their birthdays, Christmas, Easter egg hunts, and playing in the yard.  

She was a once in a lifetime dog, and we are happy we had the chance to have her with us for 13 years.