Thirty One Months ago Thea was ill … really ill. Gravely ill (no pun intended).  She rallied and with two little dips sailed through three lovely summers. Lucky us, lucky her. All good things must end though and it is with a heavy heart I write this post  … sigh

I have written about Thea many many times over the 11 years of this blog (check the posts tagged with her name for lots of fun photos and videos of our hot red head)  .. she was 4 when it started and  while in many ways  she took a back seat to  the rock star and the nut bar she mattered. She was, I suppose, in many ways a fitting middle dog. Always good. Ever opinionated. Welcoming and social and right in the fray of life.  We adopted her in part as a bet – could we raise a totally social chihuahua who liked every one she met? She made it really easy to win that  contest.

Thea meets Hank

There wasn’t a baby born Thea didn’t adore –  Wyn, Arnold, kittens, bunnies our nieces and nephews and friends little ones have all given her great pleasure. Showing Thea an infant of any species got an immediate wag of her tail and a smile on her face . People always wanted to hold her – and 99% of the time she was happy to get held. She spent lots of time on sleep overs with her Aunt Judy and her Godparents Samara and Pete …  she was a charmer, a wooer and a treasure. She wasn’t just a small dog – she was a tiny dog – 6 pounds of fierce and joyful attitude. She could run an agility course in just a few seconds more than Sally and I am pretty sure she never had a time fault in her outings!

Flying Thea

And yes, that past tense is deliberate.  She had a cruddy few days and didn’t respond to sub-q fluids. She went to spend the day with her pals at Picton Animal Hospital on IV fluids and came home completely unwilling to eat and weaker than ever. We had done pain meds, antibiotics and all the TLC in the world.  She snoozed away the next day then slowly got less comfortable.  For thirty one months we had dreaded that day but Princesses – no matter how benevolent make their needs and wants clear.  Thea was clear – she was done. This old video was me trying some editing – forgive that and watch the intensity that was Thea if you want.

In true Thea fashion she was surrounded with love and compassion to the very end. The clinic was having a rough day and I felt so badly for them – I must not always be the easiest client – I know what I want and am pretty clear expressing that – you’d never know I was high maintenance the way the clinic treats me.

Thea did everything we ever asked of her – with passion. Agility, media, humane education, educating foster critters and loving anyone in need.  One of my fiery red girls  the house is oddly quiet without our sleeping mite of majesty.

Be well little one

Go love your dogs for her …and for me.