On Sunday the third of March 2013, we got a phone call that we should come over and pick up a dog.  Although we had considered finding one some day, it was truly a surprise to suddenly be an owner.  We brought Roxy home with only her collar and some of her food.  A friend even had to lend us a piece of rope for a leash.  We became fast friends as I described in my first posting about it a few days later on Wilson's Forum.

That's behind a password, but the first couple of photos of her with Wilson are not.  They both look so young!

For nearly seven years we have enjoyed her company.  I've only heard her bark a handful of times.  She was usually quite obedient unless there was poultry involved (or the scent thereof).  Roxy and I used to drive out to the countryside in Ohio and walk for miles on rural roads.  Besides our morning and evening walks, she mostly just rested under the desk.  The perfect speed for us.

Over the past year, those walks got shorter.  After returning from Christmas just a week ago, they were quite short.  We took her to the emergency vet on Sunday morning and they seemed fairly stumped as most of her tests were OK.  We treated her for a UTI and they wanted some fancier tests, but we delayed.

Over the last couple of days, she gradually declined more and more of her favorite foods, from wet dog food, to chicken, to finally even giving up peanut butter.  Fortunately, we have good weather in Texas right now.  She spent almost all of yesterday in the back yard, enjoying the 70 degree sun and watching the ducks on the pond and looking just like the photo above.  Note that I laid out her blanket for her and she (always) sat down next to it.

This morning, she passed on as I told her what a good dog she was.