When I was nine my brother and I went to pick out a puppy from one of his friend's houses. Our German Shepherd had just passed away short days before on Sept 10th but I loved having a dog so much I couldn't stand not having one around any longer. Their were probably eight or nine puppies out in his friends yard, they were pitbull/beagle mixes. I wanted this beautiful brindle puppy, but he was a boy and my dad wouldn't let us have a boy because he said they pee on everything. There were only two girls out of the whole litter and they were both very timid, hiding up under a car in the yard. I asked his friend if he would get them out so I could look at them. When he pulled them out they looked exactly the same(Both looked just like beagles nothing at all like a pitbull) except frisky was a bit fatter looking and had a y shaped mark on her chest. I took her home and she was timid at first but within a few days she took right to us. My brother had her trained to sit, beg, and all that good stuff very quickly. It wasn't too long after we got her that I noticed she wasn't doing anything but laying around which was very unusual for her and more strange she wouldn't eat. I insisted we get her to the vet immediately because something just wasn't right. He diagnosed her with parvo, and I didn't even know what it was back then but it didn't sound good. I remember bursting into tears and asking him if she was going to die and something I will never forget is him looking me straight in the eye and telling me like he knew it to be a fact, "no you don't have to worry about that for a long time". Soon enough she was back at home and back to her old ways of fence hopping and tearing up the bags we had around the pool. My dad finally just put an electric fence around the pool that is still there until ths day. Frisky went at least six years without any more health problems, things were great she was healthy and happy and I figured she would be around many more years. One Sunday evening in August, I know it was Sunday because I went to youth group at my church that night, I came home and she was nowhere to be found. I had just seen her earlier in the day, but a storm had come up while I was gone and she had gotten scared and ran away. We figured she would be home soon, it wasn't unusual for her to go hide during a storm and come back the next day. Days passed and we grew increasingly worried she was nowhere to be found. We searched everyehere, puy up posters, called the vet's office to see if any strays had been brought in, but nothing. Weeks passed and we just gave up hope. I thought she was gone, what else could have kept her away for so long? One night I was sitting in the living room with my parents watching tv when I heard something on the porch, I turned and looked out the window and there was sweet precious baby looking at me with a smile on her face. I ran outside and brought her in, she was skin and bones and she couldn't walk on her left back leg. In the morning I skipped school and took her to the vet, she was severly emmaciated and they didn't know if she would make it, also her hip was dislocated. She slowly started to put weight back on and once she had enough to be considered healthy he did surgery to fix her hip. I have no idea what happened to my baby during that month and it broke my heart to see her return like that knowing she probably hadn't eaten the whole time she was gone, but it made me realize how much she loved my family and I to not give up and make it back home to us in that condition. After some therapy to her leg she was up and running around like a puppy again. It was great to have my Frisky back, she kept up with the younger dogs no problem. Two years later I noticed a gash on her side right where her front leg starts. It was huge and I assumed she got cut on something, so I took her to te vet late that evening and to my suprise he found an entry wound from a bullet on her back an inch or so from hitting her spine I hadn't seen. That gash was it's exit wound. I was horrified someone in my neighborhood did this to her. We never found out who it was but I was just so grateful the bullet didn't hit her spine or any organs. Poor Friskis Troubles weren't over yet, last October I had a mammory tumor removed. She did great through surgery and it never came back. I never would have guessed something as silent as a stroke would claim her life on Sept 2nd 2011. On August 31st I had come home from my classes to find her in my bushes the same place she was the night before when I had given her the daily dose of her arthritis medicine. She wouldn't even pick her head up but she did wag her tail at the sound of my voice she was so happy to see me. I picker her up and rushed her to the vet, they said she had suffered a stroke, gave her some shots and said only time would tell. They kept her overnight and the next day I went to get her, she was doing so much better she could walk and she was smiling, but she wanted to go home in fact she walked staight to the door. When the vet talked to me she begged to keep her one more night for observation I said I wanted to take her home but she said it was safer for her there. I agreed and went to leave, Frisky stared at me broken hearted and I ran to her hugged her kissed her on top of the head and said mommy will be back tomorrow. I was at my boyfriends who lives close to the vet and almost went and got her thiry minutes before they closed but told myself she would be okay until tomorrow she was doing so much better. When the vet opened I had class and asked my mom to get her frst thing for me, while they were bringing her out to my mom she had a massive stroke and died. I had been so excited to get her all day while in class, I even ran into an old friend and when he asked me to sit and talk for a while I said no I'm sorry my baby has been at the vet two days and I am ready to get home and see her. I called on the way home to see how she was and my mom told me the horrible news, I lost it and hung up the phone. The whole way home I cried and kept saying I should have gotten her. I look back at all she survived and still find it hard to believe a stroke killed her. Her fight for life also led me to believe she would beat this to which played a big part in my leaving her that extra night. Everyday I regret that more than anything and just hope she forgives me for not being with her when she needed me most and not letting her die at home. I miss her with everthing inside of me and would give almost anything to go back in time and make a different decision for my sweet baby.