All Dogs go to Heaven



From her younger days

Her last photo. She was always so photogenic





Bella 2009



Bella as a puppy



I lost a very dear member of my family yesterday. My beloved Italian Greyhound passed away.  I had my dog for over ten years and I am so devastated



We purchased our dog at a time in my life where, I really needed a friend. My husband and I had moved to Phoenix, Arizona at the beginning of 2002, so he could attend a technical school. We didn’t have any family or friends living in that town. We were also ready to become pet owners.  We purchased Bella when she was just a puppy from a pet store. I was ignorant to the fact that most pet store dogs come from puppy mills. We just fell in love with how pretty she was and she would be a great apartment dog because someone would always be home with her and she wouldn’t be a very large dog.  We chose the name “Bella” because we had lived in Italy and it had such a pretty ring to it.

For the first couple of years she was a great dog to take along for a short run. She could handle short runs (3-4 miles).    She also enjoyed daily walks. Over the years the pads on her feet grew worn so she wasn’t able to run very far, she was a much better sprinter. Eating was probably her second favorite thing to do. She loved hanging around my son when he was eating in his highchair waiting for food to drop on the floor.  She also enjoyed sunbathing outside.

In 2008 we found a stray shitzu and she became a great companion for our Bella. 

I noticed earlier this year that she was losing a little bit of weight. Last month I took her to our Veterinarian/Groomer for grooming and her rabies shot.  During her wellness exam they had noticed that she lost over 3lbs in the last six months. That’s quite a bit of weight for her lean frame.  We were given the option to do blood work and an X-ray. My husband and I weighed the pros and the cons and we declined to do the X-ray and blood work. We figured that we would keep her as comfortable as possible.  We also were naive and we figured that she would live for another year or two.

Two weeks ago our girl started having trouble keeping her dog food down. We began feeding her small meals of scrambled eggs and steak.  These last few days she barley ate at all.  As her appetite diminished so did her activity level.  I began to worry when she no longer wanted to go outside to sunbathe.  It was heartbreaking to see her loose her beautiful muscle tone.  We knew it was time when she started to appear disoriented. We didn’t want to see her suffer anymore.  I made the appointment with the vet. It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. My husband and I went to the veterinarian’s office with Bella and we were with her during her final moment of life.  I’m glad that she is no longer suffering but, I am shocked at how fast her decline in health and quality of life was. ..

 It seemed like just a month ago she was running around in the back yard chasing birds and begging for scraps from my son’s highchair.