Born June 2003 in Gold Hills, Oregon, he was a registered Miniature Yorkshire Terrier with the name Might Mouse, he was almost 14 human years and 97 dog years old. He cost $450 dollars, weight only a pound and was found in the newspaper want ads by Jeni. The lady we bought him from had the price low so that regular families with younger children could afford it. She wanted to share her love of Yorkies with families. He was the runt and we were so very happy to have him. We celebrated his birthday every year on June 1st so he almost made it. I'm not going to lie, the past 3 years have been really tough to have a geriatric dog. I know the doxi's brought new life to him and without them he would probably have given up long before. I loved his younger dog years and he was definitely always"my dog". I loved his puppy years and his younger years. He was played with practically every minute he was awake. In his geriatric years he lost his sense of direction, hearing, smell and most of his sight was gone. He was definitely a young dog trapped in an old dog's body. His bladder shrunk, his "woo-woo" changed into an insistent bark or grunt. He didn't jump or wag his tail. He loved going on walks but couldn't go far. The past few months he actually wanted to lounge with you on the couch which he hadn't done for years, and, he still loved people food right up until the end even though his tongue couldn't eat anymore. On Saturday afternoon, when he became so sick, he still made one last faithful & difficult climb up the stairs to follow me around. I was extremely touched at his faithfulness when I turned around and there he was panting, standing in the doorway. I'm sure with his failing lungs and heart, it was truly an act of love. On Sunday as I sobbed, he faithfully gave out his kisses even though now his tongue was blue and cold. Moments before he passed, he lifted his head up and kissed away my tears as he has all through the years and I received one last tiny kiss on my lips with the tip of his icy cold tongue as a final goodbye. With tears pouring down my cheeks and my heart broken I let him go with an assurance from the Dr. he couldn't be fixed. I knew we couldn't replace his old dog heart. No amount of ear rubbing could make him live forever. He's resting now, curled up in a little ball underneath the kitchen window. As close to the kitchen as he can be. I ponder at the hours upon endless hours he stood watching me cook and waiting for a handouts which usually came. Scooted out when he was underfoot, only to return. It was a good feeling to know that the past few months I finally gave in an let him have all those yummy treats he couldn't have so that he could live a long healthy life and manage his weight. I thought "he's lived that long life--here's some cheese and go right ahead and lick the beaters covered with cream cheese frosting if that's what you want!"
Odie still waits for him at the back door wondering when he will toodle out. He even stands up at the door to look inside wondering "where's that old man?" I'm not missing his demanding scratches to go out to the bathroom every 10 minutes,the insistent bark after he's been out for only 5 seconds--"let me back in!!" or his coughing episodes, but I will miss my sweet "baby"!!
Looking through an old blog post today, I found a list made by Jaren of our favorite things about Tanner made when he was 8 (young) years old. Reading these brought back some great memories and things I'd forgotten about. So I'm going to repost the list and a new memory list from his old dog life.
Feb. 2012
1. How he won't eat bread unless it has butter or jam on it.
2. How he snaps and snarls when you try to take him from someone or off mom's bed
3. The way he woo-woos when people get home
4. How he lounges in the bay window on the back of the love seat ALWAYS.
5. The way he gets ticked off and goes for the feet!
6. How he runs around crazy after his bath and especially running on his side in circles.
7. His HATE HATE HATERED for the cat we had and would NEVER give in to liking it.
8. How he silly flips his bone in the air for attention.
9. How he is ALWAYS up for a game of fetch or should I say, "throw it and try to catch me".
11. The way he looks how he has a tennis ball hanging out of his mouth and his rear end up in the air and his little stub wagging as fast as it can...HAHAHAHAHA
12. He gives meaning to the phrase "ankle biter"
13. Cuddles on his own time frame.
14. How he lifts one paw off the ground when he is extra curious, accompanied with a slight head tilt and ears up
15. How he expects people to lift him onto the bed.
16. How he loves the shower part of the bath on his back and the extra treats afterwards
17. How he literally goes crazy for those little milk bone treats--lying all day by the pantry door just waiting for someone to finally give in and get him one.
18. How he expects to have his own glass of water downstairs when everyone else has one
19. The memory of him sleeping on a hot pad in the kitchen when he was a puppy
20. His temper with vacuum cleaners
21. He LOVES to kiss, his kissi-kissiness
22. His fetish with "bad kitties"
23. His unofficial middle name - Tanner Spaghetti because of #22
45. We let him up on the counter and table just to be with us
47. He knows his nickname: Baby
48. All of his expressions with his Yorkie ears: up, back, flat
49. Loves to roll in cow pies
50. Loves to go camping and sleep in the trailer
51. He won't sleep under covers
52. Works very hard to make a nest "just right" then plops down it it
53. How he takes 1 piece of dog food from his dish and toodles slowly ALL the way across the kitchen floor into the living room to eat it and then walks slowly back for another one...repeat again.
54. You can "goose" him really good
55. Worst dog breath on record before he lost his teeth
56. Now he has a pirate tooth...Aarh!!
57. His cute dog tricks: shake, dead dog & beg
58. Has a very regal trot/prance
2017 Old Dog Memories
1. Being so kind and welcoming to our new puppies and letting them walk underneath him
2. Fighting with Fritz over bones
3. Letting Odie pounce on him outside the back door
4. Eating bones even though he had no teeth
5. Waiting faithfully for everyone to return home from the walk that he was too old to go on
6. Jumping into games with the Doxi's - hide & seek, ball, bones
7. Sleeping on the cool leather couch
8. Hating his hair cuts but loving his short hair afterwards
9. I loved see him remember the old things especially when I played the piano . He would nap until I played a very loud chord or super high tiny notes then he would remember that I taught him to bark during those so he would bark.
10. Finally realizing the vacuum was here to stay and possibly friendly--no need to get it anymore
11. Lots of new feet to bite as he got after the grandkids little feet with no tolerance
12. Allowing little kids to walk him
13. Cleaning his goopy eye and wanting to sniff the tissue and sometimes eat the goobers I'd clean out! Disgusting!
14. Teaching the Doxi's bad food begging habits.
15. His messy face and hair after he's been sleeping
16. Dressing him up with birthday hats
