Rest In Peace Poppy

I was on my way to pick O up from work one afternoon about 8 or so years ago and on the way there I saw a puppy sitting on the side of the road, watching the afternoon traffic pass her by. I mentioned it to Owen and of course she was still there on the way back home so we turned around to check if she had an ID tag or anything on her but to no avail. Well we couldn't just leave her there could we so we took her home and listed her in the lost and found on the radio and in the paper but with no luck.

She was a beautiful natured puppy. She used to sit on your foot or lean up against your leg, she just couldn't get close enough. She had the cutest pigeon-toed front legs. We called her Puppy while we tried to find her a new home.

We did find her a home...ours. After a couple of months my Mum asked if we were going to change her name since she was still with us so we started calling her Poppy.

She was a big galoof of a dog. Always underfoot, always wanting to sit on your lap. I'm sure she didn't realise how big she was. She was very very affectionate and was well loved in our neighbourhood. I could hear the neighbours talk to her as they walked past our house and she would talk right back.

She was a sooky thing. Always looking for a pat and a chat and quick to befriend anyone who came to visit. You could not not pat her, she just demanded it. She would nudge you with her wet nose until a pat was forth-coming.

A couple of years ago she was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer and we were told that it would eventually be fatal. She had had a couple of rounds of surgery to remove some spots over the last couple of years.

Last week she developed a bit of a limp so I took her to the vet's to get it checked out. They gave her some take home pain relief and when it didn't get better in a week an appointment was made for her to have some x-ray's on Wednesday while she was under anaesthetic for removal of some more spots.

Unfortunately this afternoon when I got home from work, her beautiful tail wagging smiling self wasn't at the gate. I knew straight away something was wrong. I got Jack inside and ran out to the yard. I found her lying in the shade in the back corner of the garden.

RIP Angel Poppy. We love you and you will be dearly missed.