To Woodrow with love

Woodrow Parch 

R.I.P.

We lost a member of our family today.
Woodrow aka Woodsy aka The Woods aka Woody aka Nuss aka Pupanup.

Man.
I cant even talk about it without falling apart into a blubbering mess.

He was suffering, and we had to make a decision. Not having the money to spend on saving your dog really sucks. Like when you would be willing to spend whatever to save your furry baby if you had it but you dont so you have to make really fucking shitty life decisions.

He was suffering tremendously and I knew that I would not, could not make him suffer anymore just to soothe our bleeding hearts.

And so it is that i am sitting in my bed, going through years of photos of Woodsy on my computer, smiling and crying and just...missing our pup.

*

Before Woodrow, we had a dog named Warren.

Someone had abandoned Warren in the parking lot of Jasons work. So, Jason brought him home. He had major health issues from teh get go, he threw up everyday from the day we got him several times a day.Probably why he was abandoned.  We brought him to several vets, bought all sorts of different prescription foods...to no avail. We knew that he would not live long and the vets would simply tell us that as long as his quality of life was good otherwise that we could ride it out and see. We loved Warren. We knew his little life would be short lived and it was. We made sure he had a happy and fun year, and he did. He passed shortly after turning 1.
Of course, even though it was expected, it was still heartbreaking.
We said we would not get another dog, but a few weeks later Jason came home and said that he had paid a visit to the Fulton County Animal Shelter and that he had adopted a little golden retriever mix. J said that the house felt wierd without a dog. I agreed. He was still to little to come home so we would have to wait a few weeks. He said that he was the only puppy from that litter that wasnt jumping around in everyone's face, instead he stayed back and was quietly observing but was very affectionate when you approached him. Jason said he instantly fell in love with him and so it was. The shelter had named him Charlie but we wanted him to have a "W" name in Warrens memory. So that is how Woodrow came to be.

A few weeks later Jason brought him home, a little tiny ball of golden fur, with little crimps and curls in the fur around his ears and a furless pink belly like a little pot belly pig. He was such a young little pup that he actually lost his baby dog teeth during the first few weeks home and they were these teeny tiny little things. I kept them all of course. lol He was a bundle of puppy energy! Miko immediately took to him I think because they were only a few months apart, and they became best buds. He went everywhere with us. Woodrow was really like our fist real furry baby, the cats too but well you know, dogs are different :)

Happy pup.

Fast forward some years later and i was amazed at how great he was with the kids. Liam would ride him like a horse and he wouldnt even flinch. When the babies came they would climb him and pull on his fur and he would just lay tere and let them. So chill. So sweet.

Woodrow loved sitting on our front patio in Newnan, just taking in the sun. He loved finding and chewing the biggest most gigantic sticks he could find in the yard. He loved being brushed. Loved having his eyes rubbed and ears scratched. He would give me little licks/kisses when would do that. He loved the fall when the leaves would cover our front lawn and he would just lay there and roll around.
He had a mean bark which was great for strangers at the door and we loved it but we knew he would never hurt a fly.

Before he started to have trouble with his legs he would love to climb on our laps like he was a small little lap dog, only he weighed between 80 and 90 lbs. He didnt care though , he was so lovey. A big bear.

Right before the move he injured his leg. It had begun to heal and during the move while jumping down from our van in the parking lot of a rest stop he re-injured it again. Then his hips stated to go. It kind of all began going downhill after that. He developed a chest cough recently, and every week it seemed there was something else wrong until finally a few days ago he just took a turn for the worse and stopped getting up. The past few days have been heart wrenching, knowing that a decision would have to be made and then finally this morning, after a sleepless night and him being in pain, uncomfortable and just...not ok, i just knew. It was time.

And so.

I kissed his big nose, rubbed his face, buried my face into his furry body and bear hugged him like a person. I told him I loved him and that I was so so sorry that we weren't able to take care of him like we wanted to.

I am only happy that he is no longer in pain.

It will take a while to be able to think of him without tearing up.

We love you Woodsy, and you are already very missed.

 Woodrow is survived by his mommy and daddy, human brothers Clayton, Lima and Sam, his human sister Daisy, his little big dog brother MoeJoe:

 his cat brother and arch nemesis MorrisKitty:

and his Cat BFF Miko:

Love and light, 

A