Dedicated to the Pizzie

Last week we went on our family vacation to Hawaii. It was fantastic till Thursday when we got back from Kona and the P et Hotel called to tell us that one of our beloved babies had passed away. Skylar, ( who also goes by several alias) was one of the Pugs we adopted . I fell in love with her immediately. She was smaller than most puggies, more wrinkly, and the closest thing I could imagine a bulldog and a pug would possibly look like if it were the perfect mix. We adopted her along with her daughter, Penelope on Valentines Day 2004. When we got her, the given name for her was" Cutie Pie" and Penelope's original name was Peanut Butter. I had to change those names right away because I believe that if your dog has a dumb name, then they would live up to it - So, I decided to name her Skylar and her daughter, Penelope. The first week of having them was a little tough. We already had our original two, Diva and Bijoux and then we brought home 2 more to join our clan. I'm sure it stressed out the other girls and it didn't help that when I brought Skylar and Penelope home, that Skylar would mark everything! She was female and she would mark! Peed on the bed, on the washer, the, curtains, and on the other girls too. She was quite the handful. We never knew how old both her and Penni were when we got them. We just knew that Skylar had to be older than Diva and Penni was the baby. I even recall a time when my husband said, " Maybe we should give them back to pug rescue-" and I remember crying and telling him, " Someone already gave up on them- I don't want to be the second people to do that to them". So long story short, they both became a HUGE part of our family. My husband and I will forever be known as those "crazy people with 4 dogs". It's been this way since we adopted them.

Skylar's life included the move into our very own home, a cross country drive and living a year in Chicago, the birth of our first baby and a move to San Francisco. She lived in 7 different homes with us, and had a great second life being one of our girls.
Since we moved to San Francisco, we had to put her in diapers. She was getting old and she and Ainslie had the diaper thing in common. We noticed that she started having mini seizures when she would sleep but then two seconds later she'd lick the air and look at us like everything thing was fine. She was our little Princess and the best cuddler.
When the Pet Hotel called us last week to tell us the news I was pretty devastated. They did a doggie autopsy and they said that she died of natural causes which made me feel a little better. They also said that they guessed she was 13 or 14 years old - And that's a pretty long life for a pug! The manager at the Pet Hotel also mentioned that when she passed in her sleep she was surrounded by all of her sisters. That was also comforting to know.
I remember saying goodbye to our girls right before we left them at camp and I wanted to give her one last kiss before she went off - but she was already out the door and off to play.
I'd like to think she's in a better place but when I look at our girls and see there's one less, it still hurts my heart terribly. Ainslie is now at the age where she's aware that one is missing and she calls out for her which doesn't make things easier. She was also able to pick them all out by name which is a big accomplishment for a 1 1/2 year old. Even some of the people we know can tell all our girls a part. Skylar went by many names.. here's some
-Pie Pie
-Nizzie
-Pee Pie
-SS Pizzer Kanizzer
-Nizzle
-Pizzie
- The Pizzer

When Jesse sent me the award for the list of 10 things that made me happy, I wanted to add this:

Why Skylar made me happy for the 6 years we had her.

-Her little face,
-her wrinkles
-her kimodo dragon breath,
-the two white nails she had and the black ones on her little meaty paws
-The grump bump she showed when she was mad
-Her loud snores
- her funny "Mif, Mif" bark
- her uber soft fur
- her cuddles
- the spirit fingers I had to use when I called out for her

We will miss you Nizzie and we were so happy that you were a part of our family. You were our baby before we had a human one to call our own and you'll always be our girl!