I am writing to tell you the sad news that we had to put our dog Trixie down last week. She was nearly 14 years old. We adopted Trixie from NEBR almost exactly 9 years ago, around December 1, 2011, and she was the center of our lives ever since.

Trixie was a sweet girl who loved being outdoors and could walk for miles on an outing before her arthritis finally became too severe during the last year or so. But even though she walked more slowly, she still loved being outside, smelling the tantalizing aromas in the grass and plants, and watching birds, squirrels, bunnies, and even wild turkeys in our neighborhood. During the past several years, Trixie had experienced some health challenges, including 2 ACL surgeries, severe glaucoma that caused blindness in 1 eye, and near deafness due to an adverse reaction to a medication prescribed for an ear infection. In the past year, her health problems had worsened, and she was also experiencing cognitive issues.

For my husband and me, perhaps one of the few good things about COVID is that, because we were working at home starting by mid-March, we were able to spend more time with Trixie and provide plenty of TLC. When we first started working from home due to COVID, we feared that one of the first things we would have to do would be to make a tough decision about Trixie. But she hung in there, having more good days than bad until very recently. Early last week, she had what the vet described as 2 stroke-like events. At first, she seemed to bounce back from the first event. Unfortunately, the bounceback lasted only a matter of hours, and she had another event the next day. So, in consultation with our vet, we finally made the hard decision.

Tears are running down my cheeks as I write this message. My husband and I are so sad, and are still trying to come to grips with the huge hole that Trixie has left in our lives. But we are very grateful for the nearly 9 happy years we had with Trixie and thank NEBR for saving her and giving the 3 of us an opportunity to be a happy family together.