Silly Lily

When I was a young girl living in Korea, I remember I used to get chased by wild dogs.  At night.  Down a dark alley.  So naturally, when I came to America, I was petrified of dogs.  My adoptive family had a sweet black Cockapoo (mix of Cocker Spaniel and Poodle), named Muffy.  Poor sweet Muffy had to live outside for the first several weeks when I first came because I was so scared of her.  Luckily, I learned to love her pretty quickly and thus officially became a Dog Person.

My first dog baby was a Shiba Inu named Ivry.  She was my baby.  I used to sneak her into my office in NYC in a dog carrier.  She never barked (this breed is known for this quality) and she was so stinkin’ cute.  My coworkers would come over to pet Ivry a lot.  She was like a therapy dog.  Everyone loved her.

Fast forward to 2020 and our family has 4 dogs!  We did not plan on having so many dogs!  But they came into our lives in various ways and became family instantly.

We adopted Lily from Craigslist when she was 2 years old.  A beautiful white German Shepherd.  I saw an ad for her, and the owner brought her to our home in the back of a pick-up truck.  No meeting to get to know the dog, no home inspection or transition.  The owner said she was found as a stray and she couldn’t keep her, wished us well and left.  Lily immediately became family.

She was a pain in the ass though.  She would try to escape our yard every chance possible.  She would watch for an opportunity to escape when one of the kids would be at the gate, knowing they were little, and she could knock them over.  Then I would have to get all the kids in the car, strap them in, and then drive around looking for her.  Usually I would find her somewhere in our neighborhood, and then I’d have to catch her, drag her in the car and drive her back.  This went on weekly for a while, then once a month or so.  At age 14, she still would find a way to escape our yard and go for a stroll in the neighborhood.  Luckily, she was slow due to age and we could easily catch up to her and return her safely.

But mostly, she was our Silly Lily.

The dog that the kids would draw eyebrows on.  Silly Lily.

Who fiercely guarded our yard.  Well actually, she was too good of a guard dog, because she would bark at even me or our family members when we were on the other side of the gate.  Silly Lily.

She would practically rip your arm out when we went for walks.  Silly Lily.

She was an enthusiastic eater!  Silly Lily.

She thought she was a lap dog, even though she weighed 90 pounds.  Silly Lily.

She always had to be with one of us.  Probably hoping for a treat.  Silly Lily.

She could not be left out of any opportunities for love, ever.  She would push all the dogs out of the way to get the closest to the human.  Silly Lily.

Last week we put her down.  She was 14, couldn’t see well, lost most of her teeth, and incontinent.  Her quality of life was going down hill and as a family we decided that it was time.

Our family was able to be in the room with her when they gave her the injection.  Initially, I was concerned that it would be too hard for our two youngest (Molly 7, Maddux 10) but I am so glad that they were able to be there with Lily.  So that she was surrounded by her loving family.  The technicians were so kind, they explained to us what they were going to do, and what will happen to her.  They gently gave her the IV and within seconds she was gone.  She took several deep breathes at the end, but you could tell she was gone immediately.  No suffering, no struggling.  Just gentleness and love.  What a way to go.

Thank you Lily for being our loving protector.  We miss you already.