Tag Archives: #memory

Happy Gotcha Day Layla

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Dear Layla,

I am writing this letter to you over the Rainbow Bridge as it is your Gotcha Day and I will celebrate it like I do each year but with sadness also as you are not with me only in my heart and I cannot hug and kiss you the way I would love to do.

I miss you barking at me each time I said we were going bye bye, tail wagging so excited and happy.

I am so proud to have been your Mom, and was so blessed to have spent so many years with you, growing old with you and enjoying our adventures and fun together.

I am once again going to share your Gotcha Story here so that others will realize rescuing is so worth it and that is why I speak out for rescues, as like you, they all need a home with a warm bed to sleep on.

I remember when your sister passed away, I waited about 6 weeks and then decided my home was too empty without the pitter patter of paws, so the search was on. I ran around to all the shelters in the city but could not find a little fluffy at the time, which is what I wanted.

So Uncle Michael introduced me to Aunt Cindy by email, told me that he would be in LA for a week so I had a week to search online for a new fur kid and he would bring her home to me.

I sat 24/7 on Petharbor and Petfinder and was nearly giving up when I saw you sitting in a cage in the Carson Shelter. The look on your face said to me take me home. I immediately emailed Aunt Cindy with your information and photo and she went to the Shelter on Saturday to fetch you for me. I remember her calling me from there telling me she had a smelly matted mess kissing her, that sealed the deal.

You arrived on Sunday evening, the 31st of January 2011, I had got the house  ready for you, bought you a new pink bed and was so excited. Yes, you were smelly and dirty but I did not care as for me what was important was you were finally home, safe and sound with a nice warm bed.

Your dumping papers said you had been an outdoor dog; you bit when groomed and in a nutshell everything negative a person can say and OH What A Lie. You were the opposite. I am ashamed to even say what your name was in the shelter.

I waited a couple of days and then met a friend of mine, a vet, Dr. Phil in the dog park, he looked at you, checked you and said I had won, and he was so right.

I was so lucky to celebrate your last Gotcha Day with a big party, pink bacon cake, lots of treats and all your friends, it is a special memory that I think of all the time.

You passed away on 4 May 2024 at the age of 18+ and you are not suffering anymore, missed every day and I have saved and will not let Nili play with your pink poodle which was your first toy you got from me.

Happy Gotcha Day my little angel, I hope you have a wonderful time over the Rainbow Bridge today,

Big hugs, kisses and love from Mommy and Nili xxx

 

 

 

Today is Two Months

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Today was two months since Layla crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. It was a hard day for me as I sat in my house thinking of her, wanting to hear her bark at me, wag her tail or just sleep relaxed in her bed. Every time I heard the fireworks, I worried about her automatically which did not ease my misery in many ways.

This is what I miss most evenings

I realize there are going to be days when I will miss her more and today was that day, so I went, in the heat, for a long walk and then started doing which she would have wanted me to do, speak out against the fireworks, advise people to keep their pets safe and to not drink and drive while your pets are at home. We need to be responsible parents and to think of everything to keep them safe, like we do for kids.

The fireworks here have been going since 5 this afternoon, each time one goes off I jump in my chair, I have the jazz station on to keep myself calm and feel so sorry for all the animals who are freaking out. I have been seeing on social media posts of lost dogs, ACC calling out with lost dogs, and I am sure by tomorrow the shelters will be overflowing with lost pets, it is just heartbreaking, and I pray all the pets find their families.

As you all know, Layla used to wear these amazing harnesses, custom made by Dachshund Delights, see the link below:

Her favorite harness

https://www.dachshunddelights.com/

Now the reason I am sharing them is April, the owner of the business, surprised me two weeks ago with a small white box which arrived in the mail, with chocolates, rainbow paw stickers AND a mini-Layla, a small, customized toy which looks like Layla. I was totally in awe, cried when I saw her, and I am in love with her. She is hanging on the wall in front of my laptop so I can see her all the time. Plus, the reason I have hung her there is that when I dog sit none of the dogs can get to her and try play with her. I have been doing dog sitting to get my doggy doses which is helping me a lot, as it puts me in a routine with walking the dogs plus gets me out of the house more.

Thank you April for this wonderful gift

 

I am sure you are wondering if I am going to adopt/rescue a new fur kid and I am putting it here, I have started, watching lots of FB pages and praying I will soon find a new fur kid to share my life with.

 

So on this note, have a wonderful weekend everyone, please be safe

Hugs from Layla’s Mom

Preparing for goodbye

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Good morning friends,

It has been 13 days since Layla crossed the Rainbow Bridge, the house is empty and cold without her, she was so part of my life. I keep looking at her bed to see if she is sleeping peacefully.

I miss seeing this daily when she was asleep under her blankie

I am going to today share with you how I was preparing for that awful day as I thought I was prepared but am realizing now you are never prepared although I am at peace that she is not suffering anymore.

About two plus years ago I realized that Layla, with going blind was aging quickly and I so wanted to make it as easy as possible for her, a stress-free life especially when she started with Dementia. She became more withdrawn, sleeping more but although blind I was determined to have fun, keep her nose going instead of her eyes and keep the routine we had been in for all these years.  While preparing mentally for the awful day I started researching, finding ideas, and praying each time I found something it would keep her happy. It is a catch 22 as such but I did not give up. I started giving her new supplements, got her a stroller to ease her walking, especially on adventures and then got her the stroller that she was in towards the end. You can see on the below link the supplements I gave her plus the treats I used for her snuffle toys which she loved and kept her busy. I am listing the link to the list of what she got. th

https://laylaswoof.com/?page_id=19

https://youtube.com/shorts/qx9SZorr6Eo?si=1vvs9cdfqNepcouf

The stroller was and is in my eyes the best invention ever and I highly recommend senior dog parents to get one, your life is so much easier and your pet can enjoy being outdoors sniffing the air and all the new smells. I got it from a company called Mr. Peanuts it was light weight, roomy for her to sleep in, a big basket underneath for shopping plus I kept a water bowl there all the time for water and would put a bottle there every time we went out. Another thing I loved about it was it has two straps to clip them in on either side so that she was safe, and I had no worries. That was the stroller I rocked her in on her last night, walked her to calm her down covered in a blanket and although it did not help much it eased it a bit for her while she was fighting her last breath.

Sleeping in her stroller comfortably

This is the link from where I got it : https://mrpeanutspetcarriers.com/?

Another thing I did was got in contact with an animal communicator as I wanted to know what was going through her mind so that I could work with that, I know it sounds crazy, but I was reaching out for every answer as it mattered to me as a Dog Mom.

I am sharing the session I had with Cherokee Billie so you can hear how helpful it was as I want others to know that it eases your life also in many ways.

https://youtu.be/XJF5eG9pX4c?si=tjSmi3gbeHK3pPQL

I am also going to share with you how bossy she was in the good old days, and she knew how to work me for treats, and this is something I really miss in the house now, I keep imagining I am hearing her bark ☹

https://youtu.be/daBKHvJbsfg?si=4HWJOoSugSePKhOK

On Saturday the 4th of May the awful day arrived, it was a day etched in my memory like it was yesterday but I am at peace as she is not suffering anymore and I know in my heart that I did everything I could to make her life as happy as possible but when the quality of life is not there it best to release them to cross over to the Rainbow Bridge. It is traumatic to hold them when they pass, a nightmare in some ways BUT it is important to be with them and show them your unconditional love the way they have given you all their life. I was blessed to do it at home, but it was my choice to keep her as relaxed and comfortable as possible with all the familiar smells she knew.

I cannot and will not accept people that dump their seniors at shelters to die in a cold cage because they do not want to deal with their senior passing or at a vet telling the vet to euthanize their pet and leaving. That is cold disrespectful and unimaginable what the pet must be feeling as they pass. A pet has a soul, has feeling and emotions and to put them through that is unforgivable. Your pet is scared, frightened and if they were part of your family, they should be honored by you being with them when they pass. I often feel people that do this would do it to other family members also. They should not be allowed to have pets again.

I was surprised last week as I received an email from a friend who had had a tree planted in her name in Israel through the JNF Memorial fund This is an non profit organization that plants trees in Israel in a human or pets memory which I was so thankful for as being Israeli she is now part of me in my country plus a tree is a symbol of life and what could be a better memory than a tree growing with your name on, her name/legacy will carry on forever.

Her Memorial in Israel

 

Please hug your fur kids as much as possible, life is precious, we are blessed to have fur kids in our lives and we must treasure that daily, make memories that will make you laugh and cry but those memories are in your heart forever

With love from

Layla’s Mom