My Baby, Pebble

by Michelle
(Cicero, Illinois)

My dog died today. He lived to about 10 human years. He was old but had the mind of a pup.

As time went by, my whole family got close to him. He was always happy. At first, my mom didn't want a dog at all! But I did. I was about 11 when I got him. From another family who was heartbroken to see Jim go. They couldn't take care of him anymore. Because of my begging, I was the reason for him being mine.

Time flew by, until the health problems started to appear. First, his teeth. Then his ears. About 6 months ago, he had a heart attack. We found out he had cancer a couple days before. He was fine until after Christmas. He got a corneal ulcer and infection, causing him to go blind in one eye. Days after that, he got a cold.

He tried. But in the end, he wasn't sleeping right. He wasn't eating anymore. He wasn't happy. Neither was anyone around us. We wanted to put him down but he gave us signs of hope every once in a while. At the very end, we don't know what happened. The cancer may have spread to his stomach. We don't know.

He died early in the afternoon of January 23, 2011. Everyone loved Pebble. He will always, and forever, be my baby.