Remembered

April's Song:  "Only the good die young..."

April is one of the biggest question marks we have in rescue.  We can't possibly understand why we have her.  There is absolutely no conceivable explanation for why a 9-10 year old, perfect dog landed at the shelter.  Even more puzzling is why her owners did not have her tagged or come to claim her.  Beauty, brains, personality, charm, loving devotion and loyalty - this one has it all.  We wish she could tell us about her previous years.  We hope they were happy, as there is not a dog that deserves it more.  April is a joy to be around for canine, humans and felines alike - she loves everyone and everyone loves her. 

Unfortunately as Billy Joel so aptly put it, "Only the good die young..."  Upon arrival in rescue last Thanksgiving, April was given a thorough check up.  Blood work revealed that her kidneys are failing.  In fact, she was initially only given a few weeks to live.  Her test results were hard to accept and she most certainly did not care to read them.  "Phooey, don't bother me with those, I have to go chase Dice" she said.    We were perplexed too - how could this happy bouncing dog that was romping at full speed with the rowdy puppy be dying?  She had a family in love with her that wanted to adopt her.  Then we got the test results back, and had to tell them.  Understandably, they couldn't face adopting a dog that was only going to live a few more weeks.

The decision was made to keep April in foster care for however long she had.  As the weeks rolled by, she got happier, and healthier.  This was definitely not a dying dog.  Repeat blood work was done - her kidney functions were still impaired but the failure was not happening as rapidly as originally thought.  Prognosis was modified to more likely a year before total kidney failure would occur.  "Hooray, that is much better", we cheered, "this gal has tons of love to share and lots of living left to do!"

April needs an adoptive or permanent foster home to spend her remaining time with.  Her current foster family loves her very much and she can remain with them forever.  However, they unselfishly want more for this lovely lady in what may be her final golden year.  She currently has 6 Golden foster brothers & sisters and they wish her to have more love, attention and happiness than they can provide her.   "We love her and if possible, we'd like her to be with a family who has more time and attention to give her..."

GRR will pay for all of April's medical expenses in permanent foster care.  You just supply the love and care - she will supply the joy and entertainment.  It will be a wonderful time for all, for however long it lasts.  Will it be painful to lose her?  Sure it will, but think of how much love you will all share in the meantime.  Remember the saying, "Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all"

 
Here is her foster family's update on her:

April is ~age 10, but she acts younger.  She is a busy, involved family member who reminds us of a den mother.  April is very intelligent & a good communicator.  She considers herself the spokesperson for the other dogs:

"Open the door!  Old Abby is outside & she wants in."
"Turn off the computer & come play with us!"
"Get out of bed, Rocky is going to throw up!"
"Wake up, its 6:30 a.m. already, time's a-wasting."
"Open the gate; we are stuck in the living room."
"There's still some zucchini bread in the pan; our tummies need it!"

When we fostered Dice, age 7 months, April was the one who wrestled and played and chased him, twice daily for 5 minutes.  For her grand finale, she flipped him on the ground.  Dice thought April was One Cool Lady.

April is excellent with other dogs & with cats.  We certainly expect that she would be wonderful with children of all ages.

April sleeps on the couch every single night.  She likes to stretch out next to me while I read, all 4 feet in the air, while I rub her tummy.  She would love to climb in bed with us.  She is a perfect cuddling companion.

She is totally housebroken, and trustworthy loose in the house.  No need to crate her.  She is a good car rider.  We consider her a lady with impeccable manners.  The only naughty thing April ever did was swipe 4 pieces of bread off the kitchen counter.

April is a loyal girl who watches over us, no matter where we are.  She concentrates and thinks when she's telling us something.  She has moments of happy silliness, when we would swear that she is still a young girl.  She needs a family who will love her & let her be their special sweetheart.

Another thing -- I think April has a job to do before she dies.  It may be taking care of children, or perhaps bringing comfort to someone who is lonely or sad.  Maybe its something I can't imagine.  But I do think she has an uncompleted job to do. 

April (GRR #01-116) died on January 15, 2003. When she came into Rescue she was diagnosed with a terminal kidney disease.  Her doctors said that she would only live about a month or less.  She lived with Margo and Gary for a while and then we adopted her.  She was a joy.  Every day was exciting with April.  She was in the moment every moment.

She sure didn't seem sick!  She and Buddy (GRR # 01-118) would play and wrestle and put on quite a show.  April knew every wrestling move and taught them all to Buddy.  He didn't know how to wrestle until he met her. She would walk underneath his belly and flip him over.  She also liked to grab his back leg with her mouth and just hang on until he gave up. They could play for hours—no kidding. Buddy would run around the house at full speed and  April would just stand in place waiting for him to run by her.  She was so smart that she knew not to waste her time chasing him because he would always circle back around.  He never realized what she was doing.   When he did come back around she would charge him like a bull and she could always take him down. It was so fun to watch.  She also enjoyed taking Buddy's favorite toy, Love Dog, and killing it over and over while he tried to get it out of her mouth.  She knew that this drove him crazy.  I am laughing out loud as I write this just thinking about how entertaining she was.

I took her every where.  She loved to ride in the car and she never liked to be left behind. She told Buddy how to behave in the car and would calm him when he would become nervous.  He looked to her to know what to do and she always told him and reassured him.  She was a great teacher with a kind heart. I can see her right now sitting in the back seat of the car with a smile on her face.  She was an adventurer and loved every outing. 

Food was one of her greatest loves.  When I opened the pantry and took out a loaf of bread her eyes would widen and she would become totally focused.  She would bark if you didn't give her a piece.  Demanding was her middle name.  I have never seen a dog who loved bread as much as April.  She also loved bananas.  Margo gave me the idea that she would probably like banana bread so we tried that and it became her favorite food.  After she died we bought some banana bread and ate it in her honor.  It will always remind me of her. 

Later we moved to Los Angeles where she became the star of our neighborhood. Everyone wanted to pet her and hear about her latest adventures.  She was known at two restaurants, Champagne Bakery and La Conversation.  Champagne was her absolute favorite.  They make soft rolls which she adored.  The day after she died we took Buddy to Champagne for soft rolls.  He ate them and I know that he was thinking of her.  One time at La Conversation she found a whole croissant that had fallen into a planter.  She swiped it before I could stop her.  She was so proud of herself.  It was adorable. One time the busboy left a tray of plates on a cart at her eye level.  Before I realized what she was doing she had swiped a few bites of eggs and toast.  She never missed an opportunity.  It was so neat.

She never met a cat she didn't like. She was so good to both of our cats.  She also never met a dog or a human that she didn't like.  She was good to everybody.  Now that she is gone I realize the responsibility that she shouldered in our household.  She kept Buddy and both of the cats secure and happy.  She was a rock for us all.

We learned so much from April. She taught us to live in the moment and to not worry about the future.  She taught us that if you act friendly to others that they will like you.  She taught us to always assume the best and never take anything personally.  That's how she lived her life.  She never bothered with negative thinking.  She was the most optimistic being I have ever known.  She taught us to be happy and to love.  She taught us that a good attitude is everything and that it will get you through anything. We believe that she lived as long as she did because of her great attitude.

She behaved appropriately in every situation. She was the perfect dog. I believe that she spent the first part of her life with someone who adored her and spent time teaching her. I often wonder who that someone was.  How did they become separated?  We'll never know.  I guess it doesn't matter anyway.  April was who she was because of all of her life experiences before we met her.  We were so lucky to be able to spend this last year with April.  She was a dream dog.  She was so wonderful and although I am sad to live without her, I feel happy to have loved her and to have been loved by her. No amount of time with her would have ever been long enough.  If she had been my dog for twenty years it wouldn't have been long enough.  And no amount of time grieving will ever fill this hole in my heart, but it was worth getting my heart broken and I would do it all over again.  

April died at home on her bed.  It was very peaceful. She died with grace and dignity.  I was thinking about how they said that she would only live for a short while.  I was looking at her GRR tag and when I read her #  I realized that she had lived until 2003.  Her tag said "01" and now it is "03."  How wonderful for her and for all of us.  

Buddy and the cats are depressed but they feel a little bit better every day.  We spend a lot of time remembering her and talking about all of the fun times that we had together.  She was our baby and our best friend.  I believe that she is now healthy and happy and running around with all of her dog friends in Heaven.   And I am smiling just thinking about that.    

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