We lost our 14 year old Jilly Bean on November 9th. I want everyone to know about her life. Jilly was discovered in a dumpster in Upper Michigan in 20 below zero weather. It was her and her brother. After spending 2 months in a shelter they put the last ditch picture of her in the paper. Everyone said...that looks like a Jami-dog. I went up there and got her. Her beginnings had turned her into a very scared and troubled puppy. She was scared of everything. She eventually got to trust us and settled in. We then moved to Alabama and after about two months I let the dogs out on the patio and Jilly ran right into a rattlesnake and was bitten. We rushed her to the vet and she survived. We then moved to Colorado Springs. Within two months she was underfoot when I was cooking and I tripped over her with bacon grease and she went through the rest of her life with a triangle of hair missing on her head. We then left her and my other dog out in the back yard while we went to the north side of the city. A thunderstorm happened and lightening hit in our yard. We have never discovered how she scaled the fence but she did and was gone. In her fear she made it down the street to a field where we discovered her several frantic hours later. She was laying there shaking and unable to move. That was the beginning of an intense fear of thunder and loud noises. She could always hear the thunder long before we would. She would jump on the bed (the only time she would ever get on the bed) and shake until the storm went away. She also only felt secure by being in closed little spaces. She slept under our bed. The last part of August of this year she took a turn for the worse. She started vomiting everything she ate. We took her to the vet and they kept her for a couple of days but she never did bounce back. It was an on and off again job to get her to eat. The vomiting scared her so she wouldn't ever eat the food she vomited. I have cooked chicken, boiled rice, hamburger, ham, etc. to keep her going. We decided that we would put her to sleep around the first of November but we wanted to try one last thing. We tried baby food. She loved it and started perking up. After almost a week we tried to introduce some senior food for her but it made her vomit and now no matter of coaxing would make her eat or drink. Thursday, November 9th, after 3 days of not eating (I forced her to drink) and her being so frail and her bones so brittle we had to make the decision to put her to sleep. The vet said there was nothing more to do...it was time to let her rest. It was the hardest thing we have ever done. My husband, myself, and 2 kids petted her and scratched her ears as she left this earth. This is a tribute to the sweet neurotic dog who never had an easy life and not an easy death...but the constitution to try and live long after she should have. We love you Jilly Bean...we miss you Jilly Bean...and we respect you Jilly. May god let us all meet up again. I pray that you and Bosco and Pee-wee are running and having fun. You deserve it. I know God has a special place in his heart for you. Love you Jill Jill