I had tears in my eyes when I read about your dogs and the little boy's dog killed by the roadside. How difficult it is to lose these important members of our families. Yes, they are family in every sense of the word!!!
We lost three little Yorkies two years ago, and another one that we had found abandoned in the city several years ago died because he was diabetic.. Cricket and her baby PeeWee were the loves of our lives for over twelve years. Cricket died first of heart problems. We kept a huge oxygen tank by our bed for eight months trying to keep her alive. My husband built her a house from a huge computer box in which we installed windows out of plexi-glass. We administered oxygen through a slot, bringing her out only for brief periods each day until breathing became difficult for her and she wanted to go back in her little home. She was so happy to be alive, wagging her little tail so hard when visitors came We worked hard to keep our little "mother" yorkie with us, but she passed away suddenly one morning.
PeeWee always hyperventillated and once during an attack when her tongue was turning blue while we were in NH, we rushed her to a vet who admistered morphine--unfortunately too much--to calm her down. She died. We cried all the way home to NJ.
Spike was an abused huge Palooka of a Yorkie who was wandering the streets in the city. My husband noticed that he was running around the streets each day and feared he'd be killed by a car. His ear was slashed, and he had other signs of physical abuse. He immediately attached himself to my husband who brought him home one day. We didn't know what kind of dog he was until we bathed and groomed him. Since we had PeeWee and Cricket, we tried to find him a home, but two potential owners sent him back each time saying he was a mean dog and could never be rehabilitated. We finally kept Spike and added him to our household along with our two little Yorkies. He was diabetic so we administered insulin shots twice each day. After Cricket and PeeWee died, we had only Spike who was the most loyal and loving animal imaginable. He was so adorable in his "bigness"!!! We had to put Spike in a kennel due to a necessary trip out of town. Unfortunately, he wouldn't eat and his glucose level fell so low that the kennel owner took him to an emergency care center. We were in touch with the vets all week long and allowed any possible treatment or test to save his life, but he died the day we were due home. We had a $5,000 vet bill which would have been worth it to save his life. These incidents caused deep grief.
In February, we finally decided that we needed to have dogs in our household so we acquired Jake and Teenie. We do hug them every day which makes them happy, smiling pups. We didn't know if we could endure the grief of losing dogs again so we deferred the decision to get new pups. Now we know that we couldn't endure the loss of pleasure that animals give every single day. We are glad to have Jake and Teenie in our family. Love your dogs!!!!
Jan