Stella

Katie and Todd sadly had to take their wonderful little dog Stella to the vet to be put down and taken out of her misery this week. She was with the family for 9 years and they estimate that she was about 14 years old. She was an old dog but very viable until recently but she could still have her moments.

It had been coming for awhile and they really needed to end her suffering and discomfort. They could have spent a lot of money getting her mouth tumor taken out but it would have meant removing her lower jaw which would have had a very negative impact on her quality of life. It would also have not really extended her life for very long. So sad. We talked with Katie on the phone afterwards and the family was very sad... especially Todd. They needed to talk carefully with the kids.

We always enjoyed being around Stella and taking her on walks when we were visiting Kate and the family or when they were staying with us in Buffalo. When their car pulled into our driveway Stella was always the first to run up our stairs and into happily into our house. She new it very well. When Katie and Todd would go downtown and stay at the hotel where his parents had their apartment they would leave Stella with us because no pets were allowed there. So she would spend a few days with us.

When she is with us she loves to hang out in our backyard or on the front porch. She likes to sit on our couch and watch the neighborhood out the front window. She also loves to sit on our bed and look out down on the street from our bedroom window. She was very nosey. 

We took her on walks around the neighborhood and she loved to pull us strongly in the direction of Delaware Park every time. She remembered and new the way well. She also really wanted to walk along the outside of the zoo and look at the animals.

One time she got out while we were entertaining people in the backyard. I guess she wanted to explore the neighborhood. Apparently she wandered off a couple of blocks away and was found by a neighbor who tried calling the phone number on the tag which Todd didn't hear. She saw the address was in Philadelphia so she put Stella on a leash and walked her around the neighborhood. Stella immediately headed back to our house and pulled toward our driveway. The neighbor saw a car in the drive with PA plates and because of the way Stella was pulling she knew she found the owners. She came into the backyard with Stella and explained where she found her. The funny thing was that no one had missed her yet and she hadn't been gone very long. We were fortunate. I can't image what it would have like if she had really gone missing and Katie and Todd had to go looking for her. Well, that didn't happen and a neighbor came to the rescue.

We always like how good she was with the children. We saw that in the very beginning after Henry was born.