Goodbye Gigi
Last Night we put Gigi down. Gigi was almost 16 years old and she was so sick. She was lying on her side and every 20 or 30 minutes she’d yip/bark as if in pain. I didn’t know if it was her body hurting her or her mind but it really was time to stop the pain. Corry found an emergency vet who would care for Gigi on a Saturday night, so Cory and Drew came and got me. I was holding Gigi when they administered the drug and she went quietly. No more pain. My grandkids, Zavi and Jesse came too, to help me. It was hard but good.
A bit about Gigi.
When my husband Jack was alive we had three dogs, Puddela, Carmella, and Winnie. Puddle was the mother, a small middle-sized grey poodle, her babies were Carmella a white little poodle, and Winnie who was teeny and black. First Puddy died, this sweet dog who loved everyone suddenly became a demon in her sleep and was growling every 20 minutes or so. I kept her on my chest all night then the next morning got a vet who did house calls to come and put her down. Poor girl. Then it was Carmella. We had a fenced yard that backed onto a field but one day someone left the gate to the field open. Carmie went through and was taken by a coyote who left a little bone with Carmella’s fur on it as a reminder. Now, I only had Winnie. I invited her onto my bed at night since she was the only one left. She said “No, Daddy wouldn’t let us on the bed and I always do what he said.” One night as Winnie slept on the floor next to me, in her bed, I heard a funny sound and wondered what it was. When I woke the next morning there was Winnie looking very serene with her head on the edge of her bed quietly dead.
Now, a while later, I decided I needed a dog to keep me company so I began looking at ads for dogs. My kids had Shihitzu pups and I had Poodles so I thought a Poodle mix with a Shihitzu would be a good choice. I went online and found a breeder in Indiana who had ShiPoo puppies for sale. The breeder identified the pups by putting an alphabet block in front of each pup, A, B, C, and so on. I studied the photos of the pups and one darling little one hadthe G block in front of her, so I knew she had to be mine. The puppy was shipped to Los Angeles and my daughter, Cory came up from San Diego to help me welcome the new dog. We picked her up at the cargo airport and she was an adorable wiggly creature. We named her Gigi for her identifying letter G.
From then on I had to learn to live with a thieving, rambunctious, loving, smart, bratty little puppy. I loved her and her nutty shenanigans. My kids were sure she would trip me up and kill me. It didn’t happen and one day, when she was three years old, she woke up and said, “Oops, I’m not a puppy anymore, I’m a dog”. From that day on she acted like a mature, loving, playful dog. I was a member of GPAC, a senior group in Silver Lake, a part of Los Angeles, and I took Gigi to all the meetings and gatherings. People loved her. She made them feel special because of the way she paid attention to them. I loved bringing her so when the plan was for a large fundraising event, I tried to think about how we could be supportive.
I came up with an idea that because Gigi was so loved she could make money for us. I made a little poster that said,
“ LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE !!!
25 CENTS A PET — 50 CENTS A KISS — CHANGE IS AVAILABLE
– Gigi Gold”
That little doggy earned $23 dollars that day and earned a reputation as a very competent FUNDRAISER.
This was Gigi, the dog we loved, who was put down to keep her happy and not hurting. I miss her but it was right to do.
