A Short Story of our Puppy, Winnie

This one is a hard one to write. I was really hoping that the story of our new Boxer puppy would continue to play out for years to come, but tragically ended after 3 weeks.

This story started a couple months ago. We had been debating for quite a while about getting a puppy. Me and Keith both grew up with dogs and had been wanting one for a while. We decided that we'd casually look at getting a dog, seeing as I'd be home with 3 kids by myself for majority of the day and wouldn't mind having a dog to protect our house. And then a slew of break-ins started happening in our neighborhood and we agreed that we needed a dog. And not one that I can punt over the fence.

It was Keith's idea to get a Boxer puppy, as he had one growing up and they make really good family dogs and are awesome with kids. We both kept our eyes/ears open for something close to us when Keith found her online, and only a 1.5 hour drive away from us. We made the drive out there one afternoon to take a look at her. She was only 4 weeks old and adorable as ever. We agreed on her and set up the date to take her home. The girls were thrilled.

Hello Winnie.



She finally came home August 13 and the girls couldn't be more happier that she was finally home. The only downside was that she had gotten into a fight with her siblings that week before she came home and tore her ear open. So she had to endure stitches in her ear and the cone of shame for 2 weeks before we could remove it.



But she was worth it. Even with all the jumping and puppy teeth chewing and accidents in the house. She was worth it.



Unfortunately, everything changed on September 1. I had put her outside to do her business in the evening and brought her in when she barked at the back door 5 minutes later. She was her usual bouncy self and went straight for her food and water. And I noticed that she was dropping whole pieces of food from her mouth and that she started puking. And the food that she had just eaten was not even chewed. Keith took her outside while I cleaned up the mess, and that's when Keith called me over and tearfully told me that she had passed away.



We're all heartbroken.



We're not sure what happened to our puppy. We're thinking that either she choked on her food (the pieces were whole when she puked them up), or that someone fed her something that she wasn't supposed to have.



Either way, it sucks. We had to explain to the girls that Winnie was with Jesus now and that we don't know what happened. Violet was completely heartbroken and bawled for an hour while I apologized over and over again for not being able to save her puppy. I don't think that Dominique understands what happened.



My house is too damn quiet. I miss her chasing the toys around. I miss her playing tug or war with Keith. I miss hearing her line zipping back and forth out the kitchen window. I miss hearing her scratch her cage in the middle of the night while I feed Zach. I miss that she was my big lap dog and just wanted all the attention that we could give her. I just miss my puppy.