Hello everyone and to all those very kind souls who reached out to me in compassion and understanding. Someone said they would like to hear more about my "tysie'. I COULD TALK ABOUT HIM ALL DAY! I guess that is part of the healing process. I was with my daughter Angie who was 15 years old at the time. That was 2002 of June I had just gotten married for the second time. My daughter and I were at the mall and she begged me to go into the pet store. I told my daughter we could not have any pets because we were living in an apartment at the time. Well to make a long story shorter my daughter got me to take this beautiful black spaniel puppy out of the cage to pet him. They put him in a small room with us. Mind you I was firm in my resolve not to get a dog. That is until this adorable pup with the biggest eyes I've ever seen hobble over to me and peed on my sneaker. At that moment I feel in love and took him home that day. It didn't take long and my husband was in love too. It was easy to love Tyson and he was perfect for us. He was not a dog for really long hikes or rockclimbing or even swimming in the ocean. He was great for nice slow long walks, playing at the park and watching movies with us. He loved to go to the mountains, we have a resort up there, and sniff for hours on end. He was super at understanding my moods and emotions. We finally moved into a house in 2004 and it was really nice. When tyson was 4 he tore his ACL on his right back leg and required surgery. It took him awhile but he healed up alright. Tyson was there for me when my grandmother died at 102 years old. My grandmother raised me so I really felt like a steamroller had just rolled over my heart. Tyson never stopped comforting me until one day I started to feel better. Now when I think of grandma it is with happy memories. I guess it will be the same with tysie one day also. Tyson liked to go to state parks and he really liked Thanksgiving turkey dinner and holidays too. I always gave him little treats from the table but he never begged once. He wanted to be part of the family and he was. At times, it was so weird he acted so human. He had trouble with his ears and skin. Keeping up with the vet bill was challenging to say the least but he was worth every penny. Last year in 2009, tysie tore the ACL in his other leg and had to have surgery again. This time he did not bounce back so nicely. His leg became infected and he was on pills for quite some time. Just when he was starting to walk again, he was attacked by a pitbull that bit tysie in the face. All I could do was cry. Tysie was having a really tough time with life in general but I never left his side and gave him the love and care he needed. Just like he did when I was hurting. He was my souldog that is why I knew something was not right. I told the vet he lost his spark and he wouldn't eat. Tyson seemed depressed. I took him for test on July17th and he was diagnosed with a leukemia like disorder. His immune system was slowing killing him by killing his red blood cells. He was so tired he had very little energy. The vet gave me some pills he said might help. Funny tyson was so tired but the next day we had a birthday picnic for my granddaughter Mia and tyson wanted to be there right next to me. I kept outside until he got too tired. You all know pretty much the rest. Tyson got weaker and weaker until he couldn't walk and we had to take him to the vet on August 12th to put him to sleep. He basically had no red blood cells left at that point. We all love him and miss him more than we can put into words. Today, Sunday August 22, we put tysie in his final resting place in our yard so he will always be near us. My daughter Jen made a beautiful stone for him. It is raining hard today the perfect weather for the burial of your best friend. Love you and miss you tysie..mommy and daddy