Zoie Red Tornado Stephens

Today we lost our red toy poodle, our adorable little Zoie bug.  She was almost 14 and she lived a great life.  She had been showing signs of slowing down and getting sick, so it wasn't a total surprise to me, but it is still hard to lose her.  

The story of our little Zoie was that she was brought home by my grandma when she was a puppy.  She was so lonely for her mommy that she wouldn't eat or drink.  After she was given some baby food and some water from a syringe, she was a happy, healthy puppy.  She was playful and easy to love.  She learned tricks so quickly and was just an intelligent, happy dog.  She was always so energetic and made us tired before she wore herself out.  She was the runt, but the only big health problem she had was a ruptured belly button, which was corrected with surgery and didn't bother her after that.
My grandma loved that little dog.  She took her everywhere in her purse, because as a puppy, she was that little.  My grandma took her to her doc appt and told the doc "Do you want to see my new toy?"  The doc looked her purse and said "That's no toy!"  hehe :)

The little dog was there when both my grandparents died, and I think it was hard on her.  She wasn't her enthusiastic self when my parents when to check on my grandma because the neighbor was worried, so I think she knew.  When we adopted the dog, she already knew us and loved us, and we loved her.  She attached herself to me for some reason more than the others, and I attached to her pretty quickly too.  After that she and I have been best friends and have loved and cared for each other.

This is the first time I have actually lost a pet to death.  I have had a cat run away, and have had dogs adopted out, so this is like a family member leaving to me.  She'll still be in my heart and in my memories, and I will miss my Zoie Red Tornado, but we'll meet again soon enough.  And I am so grateful that she is with her first family again.  Love you, my Zoie bug!  Thanks for bringing sunshine into my life.