# One week ago today



## Todd (Sep 6, 2004)

I lost Heidi. I felt her last heartbeat and heard her last breath.

First, her life. I adopted a skinny HW+ girl from the shelter in Auburn Alabama in Sept 2004. She was 2 or 3 years old, they didn't know for sure. I got her treated and she recovered nicely and never tested HW+ again. For the next two years, we lived in an apartment while I worked on my PhD. She loved all the kids and some of the dogs in the neighborhood. None of the local rescues really wanted to deal with me since I was in an apartment. I didn't know it until a few years later because I kept in touch with the lady that approved the adoption, but Heidi was scheduled to be euthanized three days after we walked out of the shelter. No one wanted her because she was HW+. Angie, I'll love you forever for giving me the chance to spend some of my life with her.

We moved to Dayton OH where I taught graduate school. I bought a house with a fenced in yard. But as a GSD, she still needed or at least wanted to "patrol" the neighborhood. She made many new friends, many more two-legged than four-legged, but she did like some of the other dogs. I had to leave her for almost nine months to serve in Afghanistan. One of my students welcomed her into his house. Her muzzle turned almost completely gray when I was gone even though she had a stay at home wife and little girl to watch over. 

In Summer of 2010 we moved to PA. I bought another house with a fence. Again, she made many friends, but most were people. She really was a people dog. 

My family adored her and she went almost everywhere with me through the years. She was great with 10 hour car rides as long as she was with me. I promised Angie when I adopted her that I would walk her several times per day. Every day I was with her, we walked at least three miles and sometimes more on the weekends. 

As it turns out, the heartworms eventually killed her. A month ago, she really started to slow down. After a few visits to the vet and the ER for an ultrasound, I found out she had an enlarged heart. The vet thought it might have been caused by the heartworms so many years ago. The vet told me there was no cure but only a few things that might prolong her life a few months. 

She had stopped eating two days before the ultrasound. Once we knew the cause, the vet told me I knew what I had to do. She went downhill so fast it was unbelievable. She lost 9 pounds in two weeks. On the fourth day that she would not eat, at 6:35 pm on 3 May, Heidi died in my arms at the vet's office. 

She was the first dog I was solely responsible for. She was a dog that no one wanted. I wasn't the perfect adoption candidate but I was her last chance. We gave each other almost seven years of happiness.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I am so sorry for your loss, but now she runs free. So glad you gave her such a good life and had each other.


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

I am so sorry the two of you said goodbye but she was loved and loved you in turn. Obviously you two were perfect for each other!!


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Zoeys mom said:


> I am so sorry the two of you said goodbye but she was loved and loved you in turn. Obviously you two were perfect for each other!!


Amen


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## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

Thank you SO much for saving her...and giving her those wonderful 7 years of love and happiness! I'm sure in many ways she saved you right back! My heart goes out to you...I know what it is like to have to say goodbye...but you'll meet up again one day!


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## koda girl (Feb 15, 2010)

Wow your story sure touched my heart. You are an amazing person that gave an unwanted dog a great life. Very sorry for your loss.


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

oh todd, you gave her everything. everything. right up until, and including, the end. what a beautiful tribute you've written. 

i hope someday, when the time is right, you are blessed with another wonderful shepherd who will fill your heart, once again, with joy. 

bless your heart, heidi-girl, rest in peace.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I'm sorry.
I don't know what else to add to the words of the others. 
A beautiful tribute to Heidi and to Angie.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I swear that I'm never going to read these posts but I always have to- I'm so sorry that you lost Heidi but I'm so glad you had each other. There's nothing better than that solid steady love and trust. I hope you have that again and can pass down Heidi's love to another deserving dog


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

She sounds like she was a fabulous dog who stole your heart from the first moment. I'm sorry for your loss and as others have said, i will repeat, beautiful tribute to a best friend. She'll send another your way when the time is right. They always do. They certainly do leave paw prints on our hearts.


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## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

Stosh said:


> I swear that I'm never going to read these posts but I always have to- I'm so sorry that you lost Heidi but I'm so glad you had each other. There's nothing better than that solid steady love and trust. I hope you have that again and can pass down Heidi's love to another deserving dog


 Me too, hugs and prayers from Texas.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I am so sorry..


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

I am so sorry. Heidi sounded like a wonderful girl. You gave her the life she so deserved and you can rest assured you now have a guardian angel for life. 

My heart goes out to you.


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I'm so sorry for your loss and happy to know she had a GREAT life with you. May she rest in peace.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I'm so sorry for your loss Todd, Heidi sounds like she was a wonderful girl. RIP Heidi.


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

What a lovely tribute to such a wonderful friend. I am so very sorry for your loss. While she may not be with you now as you have known her to be, she remains with you in your heart in a place that only belongs to your dear girl.

Take care,


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## Todd (Sep 6, 2004)

Thank you all for the kind words. They really do help. I just picked up Heidi's ashes. Hopefully this will be the closure I needed. My mother, who did not like dogs, but absolutely learned to love Heidi sent me a package that arrived on Friday. I didn't open it over the weekend to save it for tonight after I picked up the ashes.

Fortunately the "I am grateful for the time we had together" is starting to outweigh how much I miss her. There are so many wonderful memories. Instead of being sorry for my loss, I think about the people who never spent the time to get to know and go through life with these wonderful dogs.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

When I lost my last gsd, Omy, my husband kept telling me not to cry about what's been lost but smile about what was. It sounds as though you're getting that a lot faster than I did. The day I got her ashes back was tough- my husband was out of town so my best friend picked them up and brought them to me with a pizza and a bottle of wine. It just so happens I have some leftover pizza in the fridge- I'll heat it up and open the wine tonight.


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## London's Mom (Aug 19, 2009)

It seems that the pain of losing a beloved dog never subsides. But then again, the memories we hold of them never leave our hearts.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

They come to much too late and leave much too early....

Very sorry for your loss Todd....you were an amazing home for this girl and I am glad she had so much love after a neglected beginning....

Run free at the bridge Heidi and make lots of new friends....

Lee


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## Karin (Jan 4, 2008)

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your sweet Heidi. She was so lucky to have been adopted by you and it sounds like she had a great life with you. Thank you for taking care of this little girl who would probably been euthanized if it wasn't for you. May your memories comfort you in this difficult time. Rest in peace, Heidi. :angel:


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## caview (Jun 30, 2008)

I am so very sorry for your loss...and what a loss it is! God bless you! Tanya


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

What a great blessing you have been in her life, and a great blessing she was to you.


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## Todd (Sep 6, 2004)

This is the memorial I did for Heidi. My sister bought the frame as a gift not knowing how it would ultimately be used. It's hanging in my room above where she slept. Her birthday on the file was picked since I didn't know since she was a rescue. Sorry for the crooked shot...I was shooting across my bed and trying not to get the flash reflection. Thanks for looking...


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

That's a beautiful job on her memorial.


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## elsie (Aug 22, 2001)

thank you for giving her you, 
and for sharing her with us.

sharing your sadness,
:hug::hug::hug::hug:


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

You did a really nice job on that, thanks for letting us see it


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