Calling all animal lovers

Growing up we always had animals in our house and they were considered a member of our family. We loved our dogs and I do not remember a time that I was not surrounded by my furples (that is the word that we used in the house...it means fur people). They were always considered members of our family and we treated them as such. We have had Dobermans, Welsh Corgi's, Jack Russell Terriers, a Silky and a Yorkie. When I became an adult (defined as living completely on your own with no assistance from mom and dad), I got my first grown up pet. It was a black cat and her name was CoCoa. She was not a very social animal but I loved her just the same. Then along came my most memorable dog, Colby. He was a Lab/Chow mix and he was a great dog! He loved me and was an awesome addition to our family. Colby is long gone and then came a series of not so great family furples and finally Mac came into our lives. He was the best dog I ever had. He was a Boxer/Shepard mix who loved our family and was a great guard dog. Mac was the same age as Lego-man and we all adored him. We were blessed to have him in our lives for almost 8 years until we had to have him put to sleep. That was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I had noticed he was losing weight and so I called my vet thinking he had worms or something simple like that. Turns out I got the call saying he was in kidney failure and there was nothing we could do. My vet asked me what I wanted to do.....Are you kidding me? I wanted to bring my baby home and pretend that everything would be just fine. However, I knew that it would not be. She told me what the progression would be and I just could not allow that sweet, loving, gentle animal to go through that. He had been with me at one of the most difficult times in my life. So, my dad and I got in the car and went to the animal hospital to be with him as they put him to sleep. Missy, that is the name of my vet let me go in the room with him and he put his precious head into my lap and we said our good-byes...I thanked him for his loyalty and devotion to our family and told him how much I loved him. We sat together on the floor and I cried as he went gently over the rainbow bridge. My dad and I sat together and cried like you would if you lost any other family member and talked about the impact an animal can have on your life. I truly believe that God put Mac in my life to teach me about selfless love and kindness....He was truly an awesome part of my life. It took me a long time to decide that I wanted another furple in my life. I told my husband one day about 9 months after Mac that I thought I was ready for another animal in the house. He said baby, we have 2 dogs a cat and 5 kids floating around here....Do you think we need one? I did not think that it would happen so fast. The next day my sweet man showed up at the office with the cutest tiniest mini-dauschund I had ever seen. We took him home and named him Ziggy. He is the funniest, sweetest little spoiled rotten dog you have ever seen. He has been really good for Elvis (my husband's bassett hound) and they play together like brothers. He has many nick-names in our family such as pittimus, ziggy-wig and zig-zag. So, if you are an animal lover like me, kiss your husband each day, your kids and your furples too......They are just as much family members as the rest of the clan. And to my beloved Mac.......I thank you for being a part of our family!