When it’s time

Tiki …

This is a blog post I knew I’d be writing. I hoped it wouldn’t be YET. It’s about one of my dogs. The little one. Tiki. She was small but mighty. In many ways she was a big dog packed into a small dog’s body. She would stand on her two front paws to mark as high on a post as she could. 21 pounds of Chihuahua mix. We always said ‘the world according to Tiki.’

We THINK she was 2 when we adopted her ( a lady never tells) and she lived with us for 12 years. There was no adjustment period. She simply jumped into my car, settled herself in the middle of the back seat and went to sleep. Our other dog, Smokey Joe, was befuddled. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN was what I read on his mug. The point of getting a second dog was to keep Smokey company because he always seemed lonely. Turns out he was just a solo kind of guy and Tiki couldn’t be bothered making friends. Oh, Smokey tried - first by ‘dancing’ with her which she shot down in no uncertain terms, then he took to grooming her.

Tiki liked to run. On the leash with me but also, on her own. Out the door like a flash. All you’d see was her little butt toddling down the street. The only way to get her home was drive to where you’d last seen her and then she’d show up as if you were the UBER she called for.

She also loved finding snacks. Sometimes it was a rabbit in the yard. More often she hovered when I cooked and then hoovered what I’d dropped.

We suspect she lived with a cat before we adopted her because she was always drawn to them and she slept like a cat - her back to the world. Dogs don’t do that, at least no dog I’ve ever lived with.

When Smokey died and Stanley arrived a year later she schooled him quickly. That meant he learned to leave her alone, although he did displace her on the staircase where the sun warmed the carpet every day.

Tiki had a star turn as the dog in Legally Blonde for Saratoga Children’s Theater. And she would spend time with me backstage when I was in a show.

In short, this rescue pup had it good.

Over the past 2 years Tiki started to fail. First some of her teeth needed to be pulled out. Then she had a stomach issue. Then the traveling vet who did the ultrasound to see what was going on in her belly damaged the leg where he put in the IV. And then her vision and hearing started to fail. And then the Lyme disease that had slowed her years earlier really put on the brakes.

She needed help doing most everything. Not the way Tiki lived her life. The drumbeat was a distant sound. Her dignity was diminished.

On election day we knew it was time.

We called a wonderful service - In the Comfort of Home.

By the time the very kind veterinarian arrived Tiki had been sleeping on my husband's lap for an hour. It was the one place she was always happy, always relaxed, always safe. I think she had already started crossing the rainbow bridge; the vet merely helped her finish her journey.

We’re all adjusting to the new normal in the house.

I miss the four paws under my feet as I prepare dinner.

But we’re no longer worried about her. We know she’s fine, feeling good and roaming freely.