R.I.P. Little Dog

Our little miniature Schnauzer passed away today. He became part of our family over eleven years ago. We wanted a dog that would play with our girls who were 7 and 10 at the time. He and our youngest, Joanna, became instant pals. We used him for physical therapy for her. She was born with problems with her left hand. Straighten the hand was impossible, but we tried to get her to use it as much as possible to pull tendons that were too short in the fingers. This is where Clifford came to the rescue. He was the sweetest dog ever, but not really the brightest. It was Joanna’s job to train him to sit. She would hold his head up with her right hand and push down his bottom with her left hand. It took a lot of training to get him to occasionally sit, and it did help Joanna’s hand.

Clifford started having more trouble moving around about three years ago. We thought we were losing him then. While at the pet store buying food, I came across Max, a golden retriever mix, that was a pet rescue dog and he looked like he needed a good home. There is always a worry about adding a new pet to the family but he and Clifford got along perfectly. They would play for hours. Clifford started getting around much better within days, and he was fairly healthy until just a few days ago. Max is really going to miss his little friend, and so are we.