Weinie Girl and Me

Weinie Girl resting one my leg on a long car ride

I was a junior in high school when we first got Weinie Girl. She was a very small dachshund who was colored up like dark midnight and chocolate. When we got her she was about the size of my shoe. At the time my little sisters were watching a kids show called Oswald. The main character is a big, blue octopus and his faithful pet hot dog, Weinie Girl.  Mum had named the dog Stormy and it fit her, she was a very moody dog and would pout if told no. I remember looking at my Mum and saying "Call her whatever you want I'm calling her Weinie Girl." Shortly after that Mum's back went out. This left me and my brother to care for the household for a summer while she recovered. Which means I was the one  caring for the puppy in question.  Weinie Girl and I bonded during my last year of high school and no one could deny that she was mine. When it came time to move Mum let me take my little dog with me.

The sun was very bright

 I was moving in with the boy I was engaged to at the time(we've sense broken up). Weinie Girl and I pretty lived in the bedroom of his parents house. Much like Raymond, everyone loved Weinie Girl. However, Weinie Girl did not love everyone. On walks she growled at people and got nervous. The only people she let pet her was children. More than once I saw her starring our the upstairs window watching the neighbor kids play. She missed our little sisters a lot.

A sleepy dog

 Over all she was a very good dog. She was always happy to see me and loved dancing and rolling in the bed. Despite being a tiny little dog she was a long dog and loved to sleep horizontal which left me pinned against the wall and my fiance at the time time trying not to roll off the bed.  The city scared her but she loved car rides. Weinie Girl would jump and dance and bark when you asked "Do you wanna go?" PetsMart was the bane of her existence. She hated it. I could get her to walk through the parking lot, even through the front door but once we hit that cold floor the normally spunky dog would go flat. I would have to pick her up and carry her the entire time.

Such a Meenie Weinie!

Weinie Girl could also be very annoying. She loved to bite her feet. It drove me crazy. I would be reading or check Facebook and from the bed I could hear it. A small nibble, nibble  sound. "Weinie Girl, stop biting you feet." Slowly she moved her foot and laid her head down. I would turn around and again nibble, nibble. "Weinie Girl stop biting your feet." She picked her self up and walked further away from me. Slowly she moved her head back to her foot and the nibble sounds began again.

Sittin' Pretty

One of the reasons I think I bounded with Weinie Girl so well and so fast was because of her seizures. Epilepsy is very common in the little long dog breed.  The first time she had one it was a small one. She was laying on Mum's bed, her little body twisted up and shaking. Her eyes didn't belong to her and she really didn't  know who I was. I made the other dogs leave the room and I sat with her. I'm not sure for how long but I couldn't leave her alone. She looked so scared and it just broke something in me, I had to protect this little dog. Her seizures were triggered by stress(and one  time by a flashy bomb on a video game). When I moved from home, she had one, I got a new job, she had one. The longest one I remember lasted about two hours, I was fifteen minutes from taking her to vet when she vomited on my hand and came out it. Its the only time in my life that I was okay having dog puke on my skin.

My last photo with my little dog

Around my 21st birthday a lot of family issues started going on(they are not the kind of issues that I will post here, I would rather keep them private). I remember leaning over my little dog and thinking "No matter what I still have you" "No you don't, she's not going to be around much longer" a small voice in my head told me. I paid no attention to it and took a few photos with my pupper girl.

Her reaction to being told that we had to cut back on her food

I wasn't happy with where I was living and I felt like I couldn't do anything about it. Weinie Girl was my savoir. No matter what she would run to me, wagging her tail and jump to greet me. That little dog was able to move the red clouds and black waters from my eyes and help me see light again. I was stuck in a city that I didn't belong in, I had a job that left me overworked and sleepless but I had my little girl and that made everything okay.

She was so shiny!

There is one thing about Weinie Girl that I haven't mentioned and I've saved it for last for a reason. Weinie Girl had back issues. At one point during her puppy hood we didn't know if she was going to make it because of how bad it was but our tough little wiener pulled through. I had taken her to vet for her back in August. The man that we saw was not our normal vet and gave Weinie a round of medication instead of a steroid shot. I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for not being pushier about that damn shot.

She would do this when she got hot

Less than a week after my birthday I knew something was wrong. I carried Weinie Girl down the stairs and outside to potty. When I saw her, it shattered me. Her back was a painful hump and she couldn't walk. I had to call my fiance(at the time) to carry her because if I tried, she cried. She was to be seen by the vet first thing in the morning, against my better judgement, I went to work. When I got home she was sitting in her dog bed on the bed. Her back legs were paralyzed. Carefully we moved her onto the floor and I slept on the floor with her. I kept her from going into shock more than once that night.

She can't be comfortable like that.

The next day we ended up at an E.R vet called Care Center. When they called me back into the room it was just us and the veterinarian, no little dog in sight. He explained that Weinie Girl needed surgery and even then she only had a 50/50 chance of surviving. I didn't care, lets do it. He brought in the bill. Bill? What bill? You haven't even done anything yet(I found out later that they hadn't even given her anything for the pain)! They wanted over 1 grand up front. My fiance(at the time) was unemployed and I worked at a telemarketing firm. I'd never even seen that much money let alone owned it. They wouldn't work with me. I was denied any financial aid because I had no credit and they would not do a payment plan. The vet was rude and even make a comment about my Tourettes.  I was left with one choice. About 15 minutes and $90 later I watched the light go from my little girl's eyes and I was left holding her small, fragile body.

Holiday Weinie Girl

I try not remember Weinie Girl's last moments. Because that's not her. Weinie Girl was a happy, loving dog. She loved to get in the trash and love to be petted.  With the help of my family I was able to raise her. She was a good watch dog. She was very cuddley and, my God, were her ears soft. These are the things I remember. I remember her biting her feet or barking at a leaf. I think about the way her fur smelled or how much she hated that shark costume.  I think this goes for everything. When we lose a friend, be it human or animal, we shouldn't remember them for their last moments. We should remember them for their lives and the good they did. When I think of Weinie Girl I don't think of a scared , fragile creature in pain. I think of my loving friend who loved both cats and their cat food. I think of the time she decided that she did not like that other dog because that dog sniffed her food bowl. Losing Weinie Girl didn't just teach me a lesson about death, it taught me a lesson about life.  When we lose someone they are never really gone because we carry them with us, their laugh, their smile or their bark. We keep them alive by keeping their memory alive.  Weinie Girl may be gone but I still carry her with me. This is one of reason's that I decided to get her paw prints and a quote tattooed on my arm. No matter what I remember her for the sweet dog that she was.  In the end it doesn't matter how long you know a person. It can still be one of the best times of your life