Charlie Brown
Not too many people got to meet Charlie Brown. He was a gorgeous brindle puppy we fostered for a short time. Charlie had started out life pretty normally with his litter mates. Then he just stopped eating. He came into rescue to see if there was anything that could be done to help him. He would not eat on his own - but we could syringe in food and he would swallow it. Every possibility was explored - but the mystery was never solved. Charlie was a very cuddly boy. His favorite time was when we would sit down and I would have a lap full of dogs. He would come and snuggle right down in the middle of all of them - usually right next to Dudley - another of our fosters. Dudley loved Charlie Brown. Whether Charlie was inside or outside Dudley was next to him. Charlie loved to snuggle in Dudley's fur. On July 28, 2013 Charlie Brown passed away. He took a large chunk of my heart with him.

Rosco III
Rosco III was a sweet boy that was left in night receiving at the HS. We don't know where he came from but were happy that DDR was given a chance to try to help him. I fostered him for DDR for a very short time - he left behind memories that will last a life time. He was very thin and in severe need of a dental . The first thing I saw when I picked him up were his eyes. They were so very bright. It was very difficult to get Rosco to eat. Dr. Paul did his dental immediately since his teeth were so nasty. We believed once he has those horrible teeth out he would feel more like eating. He recovered from the dental - but still had very little interest in eating. We syringed in high calorie canned food and ran all kinds of blood work to try to see what was wrong. Some days Rosco would eat cheesy scrambled eggs. Sometimes he would eat mac and cheese. Sometimes he like beef hot dogs - but only beef and only freshly boiled. The days that he would eat were like seeing a beautiful rainbow - it would make us so happy. The days he would not eat were very difficult - it was so hard to watch him. Despite our best efforts with medical, Rosco passed away at home in his sleep on January 9, 2013. Thinking about him still makes me smile and cry - he was such a wonderful little guy. He will never be forgotten. We did everything we could possibly do. God had other plans for our little man Rosco III, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge very peacefully. God bless our little guy, we feel fortunate to have crossed his path.

Samantha
Samantha aka Sammer Jo came to DDR as her mom had no more patience for her. She arrived in DDR, got all spiffed up at Dr Paul's office, she felt great after getting a dental and getting rid of some nasty teeth. Her next stop was a life of luxury and love at Tonya's (her new foster mom). Samantha didn't attend the June Meet and Greet as she was new to rescue, just recovering from her teeth extractions and foster mom had to work that day. Not many got to meet this adorable senior girl and God had other plans for her......Samantha died in Tonya's arms on Monday due to a very sudden onset of congestive heart failure. Samantha got to know she was loved and adored before she crossed the Rainbow Bridge....she was sent to us for a lesson in life. Thanks Tonya for showing her how much you loved her the short time you had to share with her.

Betsy

I brought Betsy home on July 15, 2008 to be a companion to Daisy. She was about 10 years old then. We called that date "Betsy's Day" and each year afterward celebrated it as her birthday. She was the most precious little thing and we had such good times together. She loved to go for rides. I remember looking over as I was driving and Betsy was standing up on Daisy looking out the window. Daisy didn't care. Sunday mornings she went with my husband to get a paper. He was sure she knew what day it was because she was always ready to go before he was, leading him to the door. She loved the grandkids and they loved her.
 
Then just before Christmas 2011 she showed the first signs of canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome - dementia. She would wake in the night and coming running up to me, happy as she could be and ready to get up. She had always been such a good sleeper. After a couple nights of that, I took her in to have my vet check her and he found nothing wrong to explain it. She seemed much the same otherwise. She had arthritis and already was on a med for that but life was still good.
 
Because of the arthritis, the walks had become shorter but she had still wanted to go. We carried her up and down the garage steps to go out/in. Then at some point she started to became lost or to get stuck in corners in the house so we kept her in 2 rooms unless we went with her. The waking at night became more frequent and she paced, both day and night. Prescriptions and OTC meds to help for sleep had limited success. I had my vet on speed dial. She still ate well but periodically would refuse a food she had been eating so I became creative finding foods she would eat. She wanted nothing to do with dog beds but laid under the kitchen table instead from the first day she was here. As the dementia progressed she stopped doing that. I made a soft bed on the floor in the kitchen for her and she started sleeping there during the day, many times with her pal Daisy beside her. She slept more and more during the day.
 
She stopped barking, stopped responding to her name, stopped wanting to play or walk, stopped being able to eat her beloved Greenies or the carrots that she loved. She lost everything, ever so gradually. The one thing she remembered to the end was going into the living room in the evening. She would still go over and put her little nose against the gate and wait. In good times she sat with me on the sofa while I read or watched TV. Later she would pace and then lay down on a fluffy blanket on the floor and sleep. The last few weeks that's where she and I slept. I no longer even tried to take her to the big bed. When she slept I slept what I could on the sofa. When she woke I took her out and then she paced until she slept again. 
 
My long time vet left and I had to depend on a new one, which literally brought me to my knees. Lab work done on her not so very long before she died showed her kidneys, liver, glucose levels still okay. But before the end she started drinking more and more and the newer vet believed her kidneys were failing. She was so weak and thin that we could not go on. She died on February 11, 2013. 
 
Ronald  Reagan said many years ago after his diagnosis of dementia that it was "the long goodbye". Even though we went through it for more than a year with her and I knew how it would end, my heart is broken. I tried so hard to keep her comfortable and loved her so much. We were blessed to have found her at DDR.  

Nigel

I adopted my very first dog in 2006—a 9-year-old Pekinese named Scooter (also known with great affectionately as Beastie Boy).  I purposefully looked for a senior dog because I could see how many of them weren’t adopted.  I couldn’t bear to think of a senior dog ending up alone in a shelter after being a faithful companion to someone for so many years.  Scooter was the light of my life!  He quickly captured the hearts of everyone he met.  He had such a spunky little personality.  He never tired of chasing squeaky balls and going to the dog park.  I learned to read his mind—although that came with time.  I suspect he actually played me like a harp and that he was much smarter than I was.  But he let me think I was in charge.  But all dogs should be treated like a king—and Scooter certainly was.  I had Scooter for six wonderful years.  He brought me much joy and taught me so much about unconditional love.

After Scooter passed away, I soon found the house way too quiet and missed the companionship I had come to cherish with Scooter.  My cousin had always talked about how wonderful their beloved little dachshund, Artie, was.  So I looked for a local rescue group, found Dakota Dachshund, and looked for another senior.  I was immediately drawn to 12-year-old Sparks.  I knew I had found my next companion.  Let me tell you, dachshunds are SO funny and sweet!  He is very affectionate and loves to cuddle.  He is always ready to “g-o” in the “c-a-r” and leaves little nose prints on my car windows.  He has selected the center of my bed as “his spot” so we often need to have a little talk about that.  He cocks his head, wags his tail, and briefly moves over a bit.  However, soon he is back where he started and I’m on the edge of the bed.  Our little beasts ask for so little.  It’s hard not to give them whatever they want.

Having acquired mind-reading abilities with my first dog, Scooter, I soon knew that Sparks wanted a companion.  Back to Dakota Dachshund I went where I found 12-year-old Nigel on their website.  In fact, Nigel and Sparks had been fostered together.  A perfect pairing!  However, when I picked Nigel up from his foster mom, he was not what I had expected.  He moved very slowly—clearly suffering from arthritis.  I came to find that Nigel was deaf and the vet confirmed that he had very limited vision due to cataracts.  I had simply assumed that all 12-year-old dogs would be quite spry like Sparks. 

Well, Nigel wasn’t spry but he was the most loving dog I had ever seen.  He was just a complete love bug.  And how he loved being held!  That was our routine every day.  After he went outside, he would come back in and wait patiently until I picked him up.  As we rocked, he would rest his head against my shoulder and watch me talk to him.  And, he was quite a talker in his own way, too.  He didn’t bark but he made noises in his throat—much like a human does when stretching or shifting positions.  When he was restless at night, I had only to put my hand on him and he settled right down.  He was such a happy and content little guy despite his physical condition. 

Nigel passed away less than three months later.  It was devastating to lose him, but I had known from the beginning that his body had suffered from age.  He needed me and it was an honor to take care of him and love him and make his days happy.  My bond with this extraordinary little dog was very deep.  Nigel filled me with so much love, that my heart grew even larger than I realized was possible. 

Nigel was not what I expected, but he was exactly what I needed.  We will all remember him forever.  Rest in peace, sweet Nigel.