Little Dolly Anna ...

Scott's Aunt Betty wanted to give us a gift. She was an avid dog lover and bred Pomeranian dogs. One day she offered us the opportunity to take one of her puppies home with us. We were thrilled and decided we'd take the one she'd named Dolly Anna. She was tiny and oh so cute. Aunt Betty lived in Southern California so we flew down to pick up Dolly once she'd reached the age of weaning. 

Aunt Betty came to the airport to pick us up and she brought Dolly with her. I decided, as the mom, it was my job to hold the puppy as we made our way back to the house. In the process, the poor little puppy was so nervous that she vomited on me. I was terribly bothered by this. Apparently, I was not ready for a dog and all that came with it so when we left southern Cal to fly home, we left the precious little puppy with Aunt Betty. (Now keep in mind, the puppy vomited on my jacket and I proceeded to get sick myself. I could not roll down the window because Aunt Betty had them locked to be child proof. So I could feel it and I could smell it and it made me sick as well as the poor little dog being sick.)

Aunt Betty decided to keep Dolly. I think she must have known that at some point we’d be ready to take her, and that is exactly what happened. During the next few months I was so sad and upset with myself. I quickly realized that I really did want a puppy and I wanted Dolly. I ended up traveling back south to try again. This time, because she was older and more worldly, Dolly didn’t get car sick and neither did I. I put Dolly in an animal carrier and headed to the airport.

While in flight, my poor little puppy got sick – in both directions. I guess she was really nervous and scared. She pooped in her kennel and then of course stepped in it so she had poop on her little paws. Then she vomited. I felt so bad for her. She was so scared. I asked the flight attendant if I could take her out and clean her up. I then took her to the bathroom to attempt a cleaning. The poor little thing was clinging to me, me being the only familiar thing at the moment. I ended up with yucky stuff on my white blouse and pants. When I emerged from the bathroom I could tell that I didn’t smell good either. The flight attendant gave me some perfume to use. Thank goodness it was a short one hour flight.

I brought Dolly home to live with us and it was one of the best decisions of my life. She was the sweetest dog and we loved her so very much. She was fun and playful and so easy to care for. We taught her tricks. We could walk her off leash. She never gave us one moment of worry.

She brought so much joy to our lives and our home. I always said her goal in life was to please us. She was forever the perfect little dog.

One day, when she was just 11 years old she came in the house from being out on our deck and she was acting funny. She had a little froth at her mouth and simply collapsed right in front of me. We rushed her to the vet and within minutes, they had her hooked up to monitors. To this day, we don’t know exactly what happened. But in a mere two hours we were driving away from the vet, without our precious Dolly. The doctors tried saving her. They first assumed a bee sting and that she’d gone into anaphylactic shock. Then the thought was perhaps she’d been bit by a spider. When they came out to tell us she was not responding to any treatment we went into the room to see her. She lay lifeless on the table, her little body seemingly even smaller than usual. We touched all her pressure points – her foot pads, her ears, her tail – but there was absolutely no response or reaction. My heart was breaking and all I could do was look at Scott and tell him I couldn’t do it. Her heart was still beating simply because they had her hooked up to a machine. I couldn’t tell them to turn off the machine. It was just too much to ask. My brave and wonderful husband made the decision and asked them to let her go. We were beyond confused over the events. Our only guess is that she had a stroke. She’d spent 11 years going out on that deck with never a problem. I still don’t know what was different about that day and I guess it will remain a mystery. All I know for certain is that she was the cutest little baby girl dog ever and that she brought tremendous joy to our lives for nearly 11 years and that we were devastated by her death. We simply weren’t ready. We didn’t have time to prepare and were caught completely by surprise. It was a terribly sad day in our home and remained so for quite some time.

I hear about the Rainbow Bridge and I hope it is true. Perhaps one day I will see my sweet Dolly once again.

Dolly Anna Righter – February 17, 1990 – July 6, 2001

Dolly in a variety of activities