Goodbye Scotty - 7/5/98 to 1/2/12

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. This week we had to say goodbye to our sweet dog, Scotty. Scotty was 13 years old and he shared our lives ever since he was a puppy. He had been suffering with congestive heart failure for a couple of years and finally succumbed to the disease.
Scotty was our second Japanese Chin. We got him as a companion for our first Chin -- Rudy. They were good buddies and enjoyed many happy times together. Both Rudy & Scotty were Therapy Dogs for much of their younger years. They brought many smiles to residents of the nursing home where we visited on a weekly basis.

When we all retired, we began our full-time travels in our motorhome. Scotty and Rudy both enjoyed going on hikes and playing in meadows and streams all over this beautiful country. We are comforted in knowing that we provided both of them with great lives -- filled with joy, grand adventures and plenty of love and affection.
Scotty loved toys -- especially the ones with squeakers inside them. He had a toy box filled with a colorful assortment of tiny, stuffed animals. Whenever we came in the door (no matter how long we'd been gone -- 5 minutes or 5 hours -- it didn't matter) he would always run and get a toy and greet us with a stuffed animal in his mouth. He would then jump on the bed and wait patiently, with toy in mouth, until we greeted him and said hello to both he and his toy.
Whenever we brought home a new toy for him, he would get so excited and then spend the next few minutes trying to find the hidden squeaker. It usually wouldn't take him long and then he'd relish in making the toy go "squeak, squeak, squeak" and he would be so happy and proud of himself for finding the squeaker. Here he is with his "I found the squeaker" happy smile.
This "frisbee" was his absolute most favorite toy -- a soft, round, colorful, donut-shaped toy that had 4 squeakers in it -- one squeaker for each color. He'd had it since he was a puppy and, over the years, the squeakers would stop working and I'd have to replace them. Early on, I had bought a bag of replacement squeakers so, when needed, I'd perform surgery on the toy to replace the broken parts just so I could keep his favorite toy in working order -- talk about a dedicated mom.
Did I mention how much he loved his toys? He always took one to bed with him and almost always slept with a toy by his side.
Our dogs were spoiled -- no doubt about that -- and we always let them sleep on the bed with us. Scotty would often luxuriate in pillows. He had plenty of his own pillows, but he often found total comfort while "borrowing" ours.
My Mom (and Scotty's Grandma) often bought our dogs toys and treats. When we began our fulltime travels, Grandma was worried that poor Scotty (being more sensitive to chilly temps) would get cold as we ventured about the country so she bought him an adorable hoodie sweater to keep him warm. I tried it on him once and he looked less than impressed. I still love this photo of him even though he looks absolutely miserable.
Japanese Chins are a breed that rarely bark and instead they make a sound like "woo woo woo". I like to think of it a mini-coyote howl. Here's a shot of Scotty in his best "woo woo woo" pose.
Scotty wasn't the brightest bulb in the box (Rudy always learned tricks faster and held onto them longer as he had a much better memory), but Scotty was sweet and affectionate and adorable. I remember when we went looking for a new puppy, the breeder pointed out a beautiful white & red little boy and told us that his name was "Einstein" -- because he wasn't. Ha -- we fell in love with him immediately and decided he was a perfect fit for our family. Since then Scotty has impressed us with his computing skills and any errant emails that get accidentally sent are blamed on Scotty. I do think he was smart enough to order squeaky toys on the Internet.
As he aged, Scotty slowed down a lot due to arthritis. As he got infirm and couldn't go for long walks anymore, we often carried him in a baby sling when we went for a walk just so Scotty could have an outing. Towards the end, his hearing diminished to the point we'd have to yell in his ear to get his attention, but he always heard and understood "go for a ride" and would get excited. And even though his vision was clouded with cataracts, he still enjoyed his perch in the window and the view to the outside world.
One of our favorite memories of Scotty is from a trip we took to San Luis Lake. Scotty was young and was walking with us -- off leash -- when all of a sudden a jackrabbit popped up and Scotty took off after it. We'd never seen him run so fast as he darted about trying to keep up with the rabbit. The rabbit outran Scotty after only a few minutes, but when we caught up with Scotty, his whole body was quivering with excitement and the joy of running free. I hope his days at The Rainbow Bridge will be filled with plenty of happy times such as this.
We miss you dear one and hope that you and Rudy are together and enjoying some new, grand adventures. Keep an eye on us as we are the ones with broken hearts.
Rudy sends us rainbows to let us know he's still around. You can send Mommy some wild flowers as she loves them and knows that you always used to enjoy sniffing them.