The Sweetest Black Dog Ever

 

 

 

Lexi was the sweetest dog you'll ever meet. She was a protector and a lover at the same time. I only knew her for about six years and she will always have a special place in my heart. I won't go into details, but she started acting funny (not eating, throwing up) and we took her to the vet. Her blood work showed that something was wrong with her liver. The vet said it could be an infection, cancer or gallstones. We decided to treat it like an infection with antibiotics. Poor Lexi couldn't keep the antibiotics down and she still wasn't eating. Jeremy felt like he knew. He slept downstairs on the floor with Lexi on Thursday night and we took her into the vet Friday to make the hard decision that Lexi was just ready to go. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done but I'm so glad I was there to say my final goodbye. Jeremy stayed in the room while they sedated her a little and then put her down. I waited out by the car ready to embrace Jeremy when he came out and mourn the loss of our first "child" together.

 

Lexi has been in Jeremy's life since he was 19 (he's now 33). He put it best when he said "I got Lexi as a boy and she grew with me as I became a man."

 

We will miss that black dog so much. The night she passed away, we sat on the couch and spouted off four pages worth of memories. You don't have to read through all of them, but I wanted them in the blog for posterity (and for Quinn to see later).

 

We love you Lex and we'll see you in Heaven one day!

Lexi Memories (back and forth...mine and Jeremy's)

• When she took a poop in the middle of Park Ave. in NYC.
• When I made her a Halloween costume out of leopard print tissue paper and a headband. She hated me but, sweet girl, she wore it for a picture.
• Playing in the snow in Virginia.
• When I took her on her first walk in Dumas and Jeremy showed me how she sits when we get to a street before she can cross.
• Thanksgiving 2006 when she ate an entire ham bone and threw up all night long.
• When we took her to the puggle meet-up as a guest and she couldn’t stay away from a big mud hole. She loved rolling in the mud.
• When she played w/ toys, she wanted to get all of them in her mouth at one time.
• I liked it when Jeremy made her whisper. She growled really softly.
• When she was younger she would get really excited when she was given commands so if you told her to sit, she would sit, lie down and roll over all at one time.
• When we were teaching Ella commands, Lexi would do them and look at us like “did you see me?”
• She used to swim forever to get a ball in Town Lake.
• She used to come put her head on the side of the bed to wake us up.
• When we went to Odessa for the first time and she went through the tiny doggie door.
• The many cross-country trips.
• Teaching her to dive under water for tennis balls.
• How she used to snore at night.
• Being able to walk her off the leash.
• Jumping in the water and hiking at Emma Long.
• Jeremy driving out to VA w/ his dad and Lexi. She was in the cab of the UHAUL, she stuck her nose up to the vents so she could smell outside.
• Rolling the window down in the back of the 4-Runner and letting her stick her nose out.
• How she pranced around after a bath like she was proud of herself.
• When she was a puppy she would dig at a bowl of water and get it everywhere.
• She chewed an apt. of carpet and we had to replace the carpet in the guest room at our old house after she had a really bad accident. She also ate the door frame to that room trying to get out.
• She did not like Ella when we first brought her home.
• She would go to bed early and the later come out and patrol to make sure you were doing okay.
• Sometimes we would let her in the bed on Saturday mornings when she was younger.
• Wrestling w/ Crockett with a double-sided kong toy.
• Escape artist…she could scale a 6-ft. privacy fence.
• Her visit to David and Sarah’s neighbor’s house when she was trying to ruin Jeremy’s 30^th bday surprise.
• Shelling pecans in Odessa and throwing them up.
• Getting water all over the kitchen floor at mom’s house because the bowl was too tiny.
• Developing a love for ice when Ella came along.
• Drying her in the garage at the old house after we gave her a bath. I would put towels on the ground so she could roll around.
• When she would get excited and breathe really hard knowing we were going to the park.
• Her big sigh before she went to sleep.
• Her greeting dance at the front door moving from paw to paw.
• That smacking noise she made.
• How if you sat on the floor, she would come sit by you.
• When I went to the bathroom, she would come lay by the bathroom door.
• She couldn’t look at you if you came in and she was bad (or even if Ella was bad).
• The time she and Bitey ate a whole loaf of bread.
• Swimming at the lake at Possum Kingdom when I almost drowned Ella.
• When Quinn played with Lexi’s paw.
• When her tail would knock things over or hit things.
• Her uncanny ability to catch things w/ her mouth.
• Climbing Enchanted Rock when Lex dragged us up.
• She would stand and stare at the door waiting for one of us to get home.
• Lexi was the boss when other dogs were around.
• Sweetest eyes ever.
• Lexi hairball tumbleweeds…thank goodness for the Dyson.
• Trying to sleep on Ella’s tiny puppy bed.
• She wanted to cuddle between us on the floor and she would always stick her paw out.
• She was in heaven when we gave her wrapping paper to tear apart.
• When she pulled so hard on the leash at the Mighty Texas Dog Walk that Jeremy cried.
• The way she launched herself into the water when going after a tennis ball.
• Relentlessly chasing after squirrels.
• How she and Crockett took over our papasan chair at 1521 Madison.
• Teaching her to sit with a treat perched on her snout.
• The way Jeremy’s dad loved her and called her Leximus.
• Making the mistake of taking her on the Cap Rock Trail hike in Palo Duro Canyon.
• How Jeremy’s friend, Mikey, nicknamed her Black Dog and Crockett, Yellow Dog.
• How she would have to take a sniff of all your grocery store purchases before you could put them away.  Just making sure there wasn’t anything in there for her.
• Rope bones.
• How sweet and protective she was when I was pregnant with Q.
• How she liked to finish off the last drops in a bottle of beer.
• The happy sounds she made when you scratched her behind her ears.
• How she’d always back into you so you’d have to scratch her rear.
• Telling her to get out of the kitchen was subject to Lexi’s interpretation of what that actually meant. She would get up, turn in a circle and lie back down.
• She hated men in uniform.
• She hated anyone who rang the doorbell or knocked on the front door.
• Tripping over her in the dark because she was a ninja dog.
• Buying a huge dog bed for her only to have her sleep next to it on the carpet.
• Chewing on sticks and tree branches.
• How she developed selective hearing in her last few months.
• As a younger pup on hikes she’d get way ahead of you but would then turn around and come back to find you.
• How my mom was VERY concerned that Lexi had a bed to sleep on in Odessa.
• Her sleeping bag.
• How she and Ella would follow my Pawpaw around because he was always feeding them extra treats.
• How Pawpaw called her Lacy when he first met her.
• Never aggressive beyond a growl at the front door.
• She’d come up and nudge you with her snout to give her some loving.
• How she’d lay by the coffee table and rest her head on the bottom shelf.
• Sometimes looked like she was smiling at you.
• How she pooped at the office in Dumas.
• How she acted like a puppy again when she was around Raider and Kirby.
• Dog dreams when she would whine and scratch the floor. I like to think she was chasing a squirrel.
• Surprise dog farts.
• How she’d “hold” the kong when it was filled with peanut butter.

Pre-Molly Ann and Jeremy Photos

 

After her first bath...oh those eyes!

Lexi and Brad's dog, Crockett.

Pre-Ella Photos

Lexi smile!

So obedient even with treats on her nose.

She ate this ham bone at our first Thanksgiving together...

and it made her sick. :(

Lex loved tearing up wrapping paper.

She hated me at Halloween...

 

 

Post-Ella (which Lex hated at first, but eventually grew to love)

 

  

Post-Quinn

 

Brad saying goodbye.

 

 

 Mama saying goodbye.