Farewell, Piper

Piper FitzSimmons

January 16, 2002 - June 13, 2012

Yesterday Lance and I had to put down our first baby girl, Piper.  We knew it was coming, and that did help, but it certainly wasn't easy.  Her health had been deteriorating quickly and she had lost 15 pounds in the past few months.  Fortunately, we were blessed in that the vet told us it was Time, without trying to throw a lot of costly and ultimately ineffective last ditch efforts at us.  Lance called me while I was at WhiteWave, so I had to quickly pack up and meet him at the vet.  While he waited for me outside with Piper, he started having second thoughts but when he walked in (to potentially cancel) the Vet Tech said immediately, "You're making the right choice.  Its time."  That helped a lot.

 These pictures were taken right outside the vet yesterday.

Piper has always been a "people dog".  Her love for us was displayed every time we walked in the door and Piper did her "headstand" where she stuck her butt in the air and her buried her head into the ground so you could pet her back.

The most obvious example of her love for us is how she would "close the house" with us each night.  WITHOUT FAIL, Piper would wait downstairs until the last person went to bed.  If I was working in the office, she was at my feet.  If Lance was watching TV, she was laying next to the couch.  She sometimes looked so tired, but she wouldn't think of going to bed while someone was downstairs, potentially needing a friend.  When Lance was out of town for work, Piper would sleep by the door, just in case he was coming home and needed someone to walk upstairs with.  She wouldn't come up until I called to her and then she would reluctantly leave her post.  Even a few nights ago, when she had stopped eating and was very weak.. Lance and I went to the basement to watch Game of Thrones and Piper just stood at the top of the steps.  I told her to stay because I didn't want her going to all that trouble, just to have to walk back up again when we were done.  I came downstairs and told Lance that Piper was up there waiting for us, and sure enough, we heard the soft padding of her little paws coming down the steps.  Oh, this is hard to write!!!

Last night the couch was a lonely place without our Piper at our feet.  Lance and I finally got the kids to bed, and then sat and made a list of our favorite Piper memories...

• We remember picking her up and she was so little and fat and cute.  She looked like a prairie dog/gerbil and when she went potty outside her fat would just spread out and she looked like a little puppy pancake.  
• We remember her meeting Marley and how she loved him.  
• I remember Daddy sleeping on the couch with baby Gwen and Piper and Marley curled up next to him.  
• We remember training her on the electric fence - Marley got shocked once and was scared of the entire outside from that moment on.  Piper was not quite as quick.  We quote her as "Oh, a flag!  I wonder what it does?  Ouch it shocked me!  Oh, another flag! I wonder what this one does!  Ouch, it shocked me!" over and over again until she tested the entire perimeter of the yard.  
• Piper ate furniture, baseboards, walls, lead based paint.  We took her to a cabin with Randall and Antje and she ate the woodwork and we had to pay to replace it.  
• I remember dreaming that I had my back brace (from high school) on too tight because I couldn't breathe and woke up to find puppy Piper curled up on my chest, fast asleep.  
• Swimming at the lake... Marley and Piper would race to the stick, Piper would hang back and wait for Marley to do all the work to retrieve it and then she'd cut him off and take it from him and then get the treat.  
• Throwing the frisbee and tennis ball at Ault Park.  Both dogs loving the fountains at Ault Park.  
• We could never forget her little head and face - people asked how old our "puppy" was her whole life.  
• When she was sick in January, Lance would carry her up and down the stairs b/c we knew she would be sad not to be sleeping in our room with us.  
• Piper loved to sit under the shade tree in our front yard at this house.  The sun would move the shadow and Piper would move right along with it, always laying in the cool shadow.  
• Piper got so mad when we went on vacation - Once we left for a weekend and Marley stayed at one friend's house while Piper stayed at another.  She thought Marley had gone on vacation with us and was seriously mad at him for a week.  Even when we would take Marley on a walk without her (we would sometimes alternate), she would watch out the window and be very mad/suspicious at both of us when we got home.  
• We remember Piper riding the front seat of the car in Cincinnati - she was such a good companion and wanted to do everything with us.  
• When Piper was a puppy, we drove 5 hours to Grant and Melissa's wedding with Piper on a pillow on my lap.  
• Who could forget moving from Arkansas to Colorado when we hit a deer and Piper and Marley crammed in the front seat while I crammed in the back with the kids.  
• We will always remember how much she loved food : )  
• Lance loves his memories of mountain biking with Piper and Marley in Cincinnati.  Marley ran ahead, but Piper was always right behind Lance on his bike.  She never wanted to leave his sight.  
• I remember running with Connie Cortez in Cincinnati.  Connie would take one dog and I would take the other.  
• In the mountains, Piper loved to go snowshoeing with me.  She loved to follow behind and get snow flicked in her face and try to catch it/eat it.  
• Beckett sincerely cried and cried when he found out Piper had not come home from the vet.  He was inconsolable.  Beckett is very empathetic and loved the dogs most out of all the kids.  Just the day before yesterday, he came in with the peanut butter and asked if he and Piper could both have a spoonful.  He went and got two spoons and gave Piper a huge spoonful and then he got a smaller one for himself and the two of them ate their peanut butter together.  
• Sadly, I think I'll always remember how happy she seemed at the vet.  Her health was obviously going, but for some reason she was actually having a pretty good day.  She got a lot of attention from us outside and she seemed to be basking in it.  

Piper was such a great dog and a wonderful companion.  She truly loved her people and we loved her. Goodbye, Our Little Lion.