Angel - He truly was my Angel by Kathlene Roach

Angel - He truly was my Angel

by Kathlene Roach

Angel was originally bought for my daughter because she had always wanted a dog. We went to the humane society and picked him out while our daughter was on vacation with her Grandparents. Angel was not what we were originally looking for, he was a male and we had wanted a female, he wasn't housebroken and he was about 20 pounds more than what we had hoped to find. We went looking for a 10 to 15 pound small dog who was a female and housebroken. There must have been 25 dogs that day and 24 were barking uncontrolably, but Angel was not. My husband noticed him and suggested we spend some time with him in the "get-to-know-you area". I agreed and we were sent to an enclosed pen with a small bench. The volunteer brought Angel in and he immediatly came to where I was sitting on the bench, jumped right up, sat next to me and licked my face. This was the dog for us. We knew it would take some time to potty train him and as it turned out it didn't take long at all. The toughest part of adopting Angel was not knowing his exact birthday or what kind of life he had and why was he really put in the humane sociaty. We were told that his previous owners were moving and could not take him and that he was raised with 3 other dogs and was strictly an outdoor dog. We got Angel home and we knew he was scared but his shyness and timid personality made us think he might have been abused. He was scared to death of other dogs and even more sfraid of small kids. We just spent time assuring him that he was in a good loving home and within a few weeks he quickly became my shadow. Angel was strictly an indoor dog who had it all, his own ottman to sit on to look out the window, 30 plus stuffed animals to play with and 2 beds to sleep in. At night he would sleep in his bed in our room and he would stay put in the morning until I got up. It did not matter that everyone in the house was up, if I was not then he was not. I could always count on him to be right beside me. We moved from Hawaii about 10 months ago an came back to the mainland and brought Angel with us. At the check-up prior to his flying we were told that Angel had a bad heart. We decided then that Angel would be with us as long as he was meant to be. Angel adapted really well to our new home and even overcame his fear of other dogs. My Mom came to visit with her 2 miniature schnazures and although it took Angel a day or so to get used to the 2 dogs he did great. He did so well that on the suggestion of my Mom we went out and got Angel a sister to play with. He wasn't so sure he liked Emma for the first 3 months but he overcame his reservations about her and they became friends. Emma being a puppy wanted to play all the time and there were times when Angel would play and we could tell he would tire easily. We noticed a couple of months ago that he was slowing down because of his heart. We spoiled Angel by giving him new "babies" (stuffed aniamls because they were his favorites) all of the time. I even cooked his food. I cooked chicken breast, rice, vegetables and gravey. I would makes a batch, put it into 30 individual bowls and freeze it. I would add this to his dry dog food, warm it and he would love his dinner. I decided to start cooking his food about 2 years ago because Angel did not like canned dog food mixrd with his dry. He went to the groomers every other month for his bath and haircut. He never missed a dose of his flea & tick or his preventative heartworm medication. My kids would say that Angel was loved and spoiled more than them. I just wanted to make a good life for him. Unfortunatly, his life came to an end today. Angel started throwing up blood and our Vet said it was time to let him go. I cried and cried and I am still crying as I write this. I will never ever forget Angel or his faithful companionship he showed me. He was a wonderful house dog who was loved more than you'll ever know. We are very grateful we have Emma. We will miss Angel so very much. Good-bye Angel God Bless You, Love your family

Comments would be appreciated by the author, Kathlene Roac