Farewell to Izzy

You all might remember when I first started doing foster care for dogs, I had a dog named Izzy in my care. In fact, Izzy was the first dog I fostered. Here she is the first day I met her…

That’s me giving her the first bath she ever had.

Here she is on the first day at my house.

I never wanted a black dog…never wanted a poodle mix…but Izzy was a foster fail, and she became my dog.

Things went great with Izzy at my house. She and Rosie got along great until about 18 months in. She became VERY jealous of any attention I would give Rosie, and she started attacking Rosie. It was too much, and I knew Izzy had to go.

I was about to contact the rescue when my daughter Kelli said she would take Izzy. They had lost their beagle and were looking for a dog. We thought it might work as Izzy would be the only dog. So Izzy went to Kelli’s house to live.

She had a great life there…Here she is with Georgia…

…with Eli.

…and Emmett.

A few months after she was there, a husky mix dog showed up at Kelli’s house. They kept her and named her Blue.

Izzy didn’t love Blue, but they got all well enough. I think Izzy left Blue alone because Izzy was still the favorite, and Blue was much bigger.

Kelli was out mowing the lawn a week or so ago. Izzy was rolling and rolling in the fresh-cut grass. When she came in, Izzy was coughing. Kelli figured it was allergies and left her alone. A couple of days later, the coughing was better, but was still there. Izzy was at the vet getting groomed and coughed a bit. The groomer had the vet look at her. They didn’t notice anything.

Four days later, Kelli was sleeping after working the overnight shift. She got up to use the bathroom and heard a big sigh from Izzy. She went to check on her, and Izzy couldn’t get up. Kelli could tell whatever was going on was serious, so she threw her in the car and called the vet. Before Kelli could get out of the driveway, Izzy had died.

We still don’t know what happened. Kelli is starting to wonder if she got hold of something that Blue drug up into the yard. Blue is notorious for bringing wild animal bones up into the yard. Kelli is wondering if she ate a bone that damaged her. It was all so fast and unusual. Because Kelli got Izzy from me, she felt especially bad.

I am certainly not mad or upset…Just a little sad. The kids liked Izzy and were all sad. It was especially hard for Georgia. Izzy always slept with her at night.

So farewell to Izzy. We’re glad we could give you a better life, even if it was only for four years.