Joyce convinced me to drive to Dripping Springs one weekend last November to see about adopting a dog from the Texas Hearing and Service Dogs. We took Nut along with us to meet her potential new brother. On the way, we stopped at Hruska's in Ellinger for a pit stop and food break. Joyce and Nut were sitting outside on a bench relaxing in the November sunshine when an older lady looked over at Joyce and said "You have the most beautiful dog I have ever seen." I couldn't have agreed more. (BTW we brought Ranger home that same day).

They say that "good things come in small packages". Well that certainly was the case when Nut came into our lives in July of 1993. This little dog with so much confidence and a big attitude was a charmer, she was very intelligent, independent when she wanted to be and lovable all of the time.

We met the breeder and sat down with her pups and wouldn't you know it, Nut came out of the pack and right to Joyce...we always said "we didn't choose Nut, she choose us"

Why name a dog Nut? Well we can thank Joyce for that...Nut = Ancient Egyptian Goddess of the Cosmos, Nut was the eternally permanent sky arched over the earth. Basically, Goddess of the Sky.

Nut came home with Joyce (3+ months before we were married) and immediately became the center of our universe. This sweet girl would have us well trained in no time.

There was never a doubt that Nut was the dog for us, she always looked like she had a smile on her face and she was always ready for a game of tug of war or ball toss. She loved her toys; but her favorite was the tennis ball.

Nut would do anything you wanted as long as there was food as a reward. Nut was not shy about asking for food, as she was a very talkative dog. She gave new meaning to the term, "Will work for food." Yup, that was her!

Joyce and Nut shared a very special bond, Joyce took Nut through obedience and then became active (1995-2001) with Nut in the dog relay sport Flyball and later Agility. Nut, as a working dog, loved flyball and she was good; very good. Joyce and Nut traveled the state with a great group (K-9 Kommotion) participating in Flyball tournaments. During one night in Kerrville, with Joyce talking to her good friend Sheri, Nut ate about half a bucket of hotel ice, Joyce looked down to find Nut shivering and her belly cold...Joyce got her warmed up but had to make about 3 extra pit stops that night...typical Nut...

Nut was a charmer, anyone she met loved her...but she was an independent sort, sticking around long enough to say "hello" and "is there any food around?" and then wandering off to find a cool spot on the tile. She was always underfoot when food was being prepared in the kitchen (never know when something might drop!) or nearby as we ate at the table. She loved to bark when she was about to be fed, when the telephone rang or when the garage door would open... She certainly was a talker, we will miss her saying hello as we open the door to come home each day. Those that call us will miss hearing her "hello" before they hear us say hello.

Over the past few weeks, Nut was slowing down...she wasn't eating as fast, she wasn't talking as much, when Joyce and I returned from Lake Tahoe on June 4th Nut was not feeling good...she had problems standing on tile, we took her to the vet who thought she was having some joint pain since her blood work from early May was fine...We were going to do crate rest along with some medication.

This past Thursday, Joyce came home to find Nut not doing well, she went back to the vet.

Joyce came home in tears...our little girl had a tumor, 9 1/2 months after losing Samantha to cancer, this was all to familiar..

We took Nut to the specialist on Friday, who confirmed the worst, a tumor attached to the spleen and an extremely anemic dog. And bone marrow that was not making any more baby red blood cells.

The options...(1)an ultra sound of her heart, a blood transfusion, surgery to remove the spleen and tumor, a look at her liver with boipsy, 3 days of recovery in the hospital with no guarantees or (2)take her home. After much discussion and many tears, we made the tough decision to bring her home.

Nut spent a quiet weekend being spoiled by us...She spent most of the weekend sleeping with her mobility getting worse and worse. We called the vet Monday morning and took Nut in, we knew she was going quickly and there was nothing we could do, so for the 2nd time in the last ten months we have watched as one our beautiful girls was put to sleep, it hurts so bad..a sweet girl that has been with us since before we were married, such an integral part of our lives suddenly gone.

Nut gave us 14 wonderful years...We will miss her dearly, she will always be a part of our hearts, our home, our lives....We hope she is nice to Samantha when they see each other again....

Love you Nutty....

Joyce, Tim and Ranger

Please also visit Samantha.