I felt I was ready for another dog and seemed a shih tzu would fit our lifestyle best. It took me 1 1/2 years to find one in a shelter. Phoebe was rescued from a breeder at 4, she was a mama. She was terrified of the world and everything in it. Still, always phobic about some things. She had a nervous stomach, had diarrhea, weighed 9 lbs, and stunk to high heaven.
I researched what to do to help this poor baby. She gained 1 1/2 lbs. her first year here. It took 3 years to see her play. Eventually she had all but 4 teeth removed. She thrived and became our world. She traveled with us by car from one end of the country to the other several times, both ways. No flying for my phobic baby. lol She loved the beach!
She helped me survive 2 of the 3 deployments my (only) son went on. Every heartache, she was there. I got cancer in 2018. Every day she would smell my breath then the top of my head. She would NOT leave my side. After I got better, she gave me a little more room but still only wanted to be with me.
Last Christmas in Florida, she quit eating. We had to come home early to help her pass. She was 15 1/2, almost blind, and highly medicated for severe arthritis in her neck. It broke my heart but I promised I would not let her suffer.
I believe the Lord sent her to me to help me through the roughest of times. She can never be replaced and it will take time but I will have another rescued baby. I feel I owe it to her memory to help another eventually.
VIRDEN, IL
