I recently took a trip to visit Mom and that went well (thank God), but while I was there I got a terrible call from Randy. Unbelievably, our darling Sugarbaby had died in his sleep. He had developed a cough a few weeks earlier and the vet said it was either congestion or heart failure. She gave him meds that cleared up the cough but it came back. Randy was going to take him back to the vet on Wednesday but he passed away that night.
We were blessed to share 10 years with Sugarbaby; sometimes 10 years is a long time, but not when it is spent with someone you love that much. It is impossible to say what a huge hole that little bit of fur and tongue has left in our lives. I trust that the hurt will heal, but the hole never will.
Sugarbaby came to us as a puppy when he was about 6 months old. He was full of joy and happiness and we all loved each other from the very beginning.
Every morning Sugarbaby would launch himself at Runt to bounce off his shoulder, and Runt would just brace himself on his arthritic legs and grin down at him. Runt, who was part Chow, was a lot taller than Sugarbaby, so he would drop down on his belly to be at Sugar’s level during playtime. Runt had terrible breath and Sugar spent so much time in his mouth that sometimes he smelled like bad breath! When Runt passed away Sugarbaby was nearly hysterical with grief. Then we found Julienne. For about a week Sugarbaby sat on top of his kennel and watched this bouncy, scatter-brained goof-ball run around. Then he got down on the floor and adopted her as his own little sister. It was amazing how much Sugarbaby seemed to grow up to fill the “big brother” roll, like Runt had done for him. He let her eat his food, play with his toys - he even let her drag him around by his tail. Julienne was a very nervous little girl (she had been abused) so Sugarbaby appointed himself as her guardian and defender. For the next 7 years all she had to do was tremble and he was on the attack. Fortunately a Pekinese can’t attack very much, but he always tried! We worked to get him to calm down around strangers and we had some success, but if Julienne got nervous, all bets were off. She was his little sister and he would do anything for her. He even let her take naps on him . . .
and sometimes she would return the favor.
Occasionally they had a little difference of opinion . . .
but they always had each other's back.
We were amazed at what a tough little guy he was. He didn't know the meaning of fear, or even discretion. He thought he could whip the world. Of course, he always brought Randy along, just for back up. Most of the time he was a such macho little guy . . .
but he also loved to snuggle up with his little friend "Squirrel".
Sugarbaby was quite the adventurer. He traveled all over the country with us, from Alaska to Nova Scotia and all sorts of exciting places in-between, sharing it all with his best buddy, Randy.
And he could walk for miles (. . . in Randy's arms).
Bad weather never bother the little guy - he could wade through a foot of snow (. . . in Randy's arms).
Probably the only thing he wasn't fond of was swimming because Randy couldn't do that for him. Anytime Randy carried in out into 4 inches of water, Shorty simply turned and walked to shore.
And many times his careful attention to detail kept Randy from driving us all into a ditch.
Whenever Randy parked the RV and went into a gas station, Shorty and Julienne went on alert, watching out for bad guys. This fearsome duo kept us safe.
As a tough guy, he delighted in showing off by arm-wrestling Randy to the ground . . .
but he was always a floppy-pawed baby when Randy scooped him up!
We were so enriched by every minute we shared with him, which unfortunately makes us feel his loss so deeply. Sugarbaby, until we meet again, you will always own our hearts.
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