Ruby

On Halloween, Max's birthday, Ruby was put to sleep.  It was a horrible day, but the weeks leading up to it were worse for her.  About 3 weeks prior, Daryl found a lump on her neck.  We took her into the vet and had to wait a week before they got the results.  During that week, the lump got bigger and we found another in her mouth and another on her chest.  Our fears were confirmed when they called to say she had cancer.  We had hoped we would have more time with her, but seeing that it had already spread so quickly, we knew it wouldn't be very long.  Over the 3 weeks, Ruby became less playful, stopped eating and had difficulty breathing.  The day before Halloween, she looked awful.  Just going outside to the bathroom was straining her, she didn't leave the couch and was frequently getting sick.  We knew she was suffering.  We miss our pup so much!  She was the 60lb lap dog who loved to cuddle.  Even though she was spunky and very energetic prior to Max's death, she was still gentle and sweet.  She did like to jump on people-but she did it softly so it didn't even hurt.  Ruby caused alot of embarrassing moments as she just had to sniff everyone she met in inappropriate places.  I guess it was her way of saying hello.  At her last vet check, they were amazed at how her teeth were in such great condition-unusual for a dog her age.  But, she had lots of opportunities to keep them clean-chewing sticks, rocks, wood, drywall, tupperware, furniture...hahaha.  Ruby would often puke in the middle of the night due to eating some crazy combination of grass and sticks.  I'd jump out of bed at night to the sound of her coughing something up, then drag her to the bathroom so she wouldn't puke on the carpet.  This happened so often, that Ruby knew enough to only puke on tile!  She loved the outdoors and was not afraid of anything.  She was independent and confident outdoors.  Ruby used to love torturing Max-she would sneak up on him like a cat and then pounce on him.  It was the funniest thing to watch. Since Max's death, Ruby has not been herself.  She lost her puppy like attitude.  Bringing Ella into the family has helped her to have a little fun, but she took on a mature role, acting annoyed at Ella's puppy antics.  Regardless of what she thought of Ella during the day, every night, she let Ella sleep on her.  She also let Noah sit on her, poke her, use her as a step to get onto the couch and pull her tail.  She was the dog that made people not afraid of dogs.  You couldn't have asked for a sweeter dog.  

 She loved carrying her food bowl around

 The first day we got her

 Protecting her little brother