This morning we helped Willy make his way to Rainbow Bridge where he could be free of pain and run like he used to not too long ago.

Willy came to us as our first foster failure from APB almost 6yrs ago, he and Corinne became inseparable as soon as Willy entered our house and there was no way we could let him go. He was around 6yrs old and the cutest little black dachshund mix with a greying muzzle. On our first vet visit, the vet noticed that Willy was developing a heart murmur, he lived symptom free though until last summer and with a bunch of great supplements, he bounced back and went on to live for almost another year!

Things are just not going to be the same this spring and summer without the Will Bill around. Every year we have raccoons and squirrels that nest and raise their young in our trees and at any given time on a nice, warm day, you could find Willy sitting and just staring at the tree, almost like he was in a trance. Willy didn't ever say no to food, except near the end, and we would even have a hard time getting him to come in to eat when those babies were out there. He didn't get excited, didn't bark, nothing, just watched and watched.

Silly Willy was a very mellow guy, but there were of course a few things
that got him going. Walks, he LOVED walks, he was one of those dogs who barked and barked as soon as he saw you getting the leash. And food, Willy was known to, in his younger years, steal a peanut butter sandwich while he was flying through the air and as I was putting it up to my mouth. He ate a whole green pepper that Roger dropped on the floor on accident, in fact, it used to be a game for us to try and find something that Willy would NOT eat. Did we ever???? Car rides, that meant he got to go somewhere fun and maybe take a walk too!! Sleep, oh how that boy loved to climb under the covers and sleep all day long, unless he heard sounds of food or leashes :) . And going to grandma and grandpa's house or up to the cottage, he got to be a special dog and get away from all the darn hyper bully dogs and annoying puppies!

Puppies, Willy was our grumpy grandpa dog to the puppies. He taught them a lot about dog language, at least that when another dog is warning you and you continue to push them, you might get what was coming to you. I don't think any of the puppies ever messed with him more than once though. We did foster one puppy (a pit bull pup in fact) who had impeccable doggy manners who I caught actually playing with Willy, Willy playing--that was an extremely rare event, once in awhile Merlin our boston terrier would get him to play, but mostly play was beneath him.

There's so many things we will miss about you Willy. We will miss your cuddles, your growling when another dog steps on you when you're under the covers, we will miss you barking at who knows what from under the covers, why would you leave a comfy spot after all? And you running up to Burt Lake only to do a hop and turn before you actually reached the water again and again, oh how that made us laugh. We will miss knowing where Corinne is and knowing that Willy isn't far behind. We will always remember the times when you would scoot out the front door, run straight out the drive, turn right, run down the middle of the road and turn left into the same neighbors driveway. Or how you would shake with the thunder and how you climbed in the pillow cases or up the back of Roger's shirt if there were no covers on the bed. We will always remember and miss you Willy, have fun and run like the wind once again till we meet again.

Amy