Seven years ago I lost the love of my life and my first pom, Spice. She was only 8 years old. I had taken her to an orthopedic surgeon who was recommended to me by my vet to repair a herniated disc in her back that left her debilitated. The surgeon assured me the procedure was a routine, safe and highly successful surgery that would allow her to walk again. Unfortunately, she had a stroke coming out of anesthesia and subsequently died three days later.
I was completely heartbroken over the loss of my dear Spice girl. I was so upset and angry with the surgeon for not fully explaining the serious potential complications of the surgery. I was even more angry with myself… being a physician, I should have known better that any surgery can have a potentially fatal outcome.
I cried for months and still to this day have not been able to completely get over the feelings of guilt I have for making this terrible decision. I vowed I would never get another dog… never. I just knew I could not deal with the end of life situation that we all as pet owners have to ultimately deal with. So five years passed by and although every time I would see a pom on the street, on TV or in a magazine… I would think maybe I should try again a horrible feeling came over me. I would think back to those last few terrible days with Spice when I had her at home with me after she had her stroke… so sick… in such pain… and I knew I just couldn’t.
For those five years, I knew my life was missing something and could only be filled with the love of a dog and for me it’s always been a Pomeranian. Many people ask me why I like Poms. Especially, my Ginger who is so tiny. She weighs a whopping 4 1/2 pounds! They say “why don’t you get a real dog?” To me nothing is more real than a dog who can be with you 24/7 and live their entire life together with you.
Unlike a large dog that you have to leave at home a lot of the time, a small dog like Ginger can go everywhere with you. And Ginger does go EVERYWHERE with me! We go to work together, we go shopping together, we go out to our lake house in the summer to go boating, jet skiing and kayaking together. In the morning, before anyone else in the house is awake we go out on the dock and watch the sunrise together. In the late afternoon, we sit high up on our deck on the ledge and watch the myriad of boats and jet skis go by. To me that’s what having a dog is all about… developing that inseparable bond that is a love that no one completely understands unless they have experienced it for themselves.
I do think that Pomeranians in particular have an inherent nature to be a “one on one” kind of dog. Even though Ginger loves my kids and my husband she is really primarily attached to me. I think that is above all the solitary most important characteristic of Pomeranians that attracted me to this breed in the first place. Of course their absolutely adorable, sweet little faces had nothing to do with it!
So, two years ago, it’s our 25th wedding anniversary and my husband asks me what I would like as a present for this major milestone. Well at this stage in my life, I feel very lucky and fortunate that I have pretty much everything a girl could ask for… A great job(I’m a dermatologist and plastic surgeon)… jewelry, clothes, bags, cars…you name it… except for that one missing piece… so I dared to ask him for a pom for my 25th anniversary. He quickly reminded me of all the reasons I said I would never get a dog again and I said “I know but I’m ready now… it may be an old cliche but I truly believe it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”!
So on my 25th anniversary I got my absolutely adorable Ginger! We got her from what was advertised on the internet to be a reputable pomeranian breeder. The one thing that was truthful was the picture that they posted. When I first met Ginger she was exactly what I had wanted… petite, beautiful sable coat, with big black eyes and that permanent Pom smile… but this so called Pomeranian breeder was more of a puppy mill.
There were dozens of Pomeranians crammed into small filthy kennels that smelled of urine and feces. Right there and then I knew I had to take this sweet girl away from this horrible place and give her the beautiful life she deserved… and so it began. She is very, different than my old Spice. More of an independent spirit, a playful puppy who has her own unique personality and as the years have gone by I am developing a unique and wonderful relationship with her that I cherish everyday of my life. Pommy Mommy, you posted a very cute quote on Facebook that really struck a cord with me: “whoever said diamonds are a girls best friend never owned a Pomeranian”!!! I look forward to living whatever years Ginger and I have together… and when the time comes for us to part I promise myself I will be strong knowing that I did everything in my power to give her the best life possible.
Having my own dermatology and cosmetic surgery practice I have the ability to take Ginger to work with me. In our building we have a non-medical portion where we do billing, keep medical records and I have a small office where Ginger stays during the day. I have it set up with her bed, all her toys, food, water and a pee pad. At lunch, I’ll go get her and take her for a long walk. Everyone in the office loves her and when they get a break they go play with her. So everyday is bring your Pomeranian to work day!
6 comments
What a beautiful story. It IS hard to lose your best friend, especially to surgery (lost my first one the same way) and it is heartbreaking. You are right, enjoy Ginger for the time you have together and God Bless you for saving her from a dreadful life as a puppy mill dog.
Monique your Ginger is so cute. I love that you have that special of a bond with her and hope you have many, many, MANY more years to enjoy with her!
Monique, I know the pain from the grief of losing a sweet calm because my little girl died of cancer. It does take time before you’re ready for another one.
I would like to ask you how you felt about purchasing from a person who ran a puppy mill because I know that you wanted to rescue her from that awful place
i rescued a 13 y/o female pom recently. I feel quite certain she is deaf. I need tips on caring for this sweet girl ! I have 3 poms and a papillon mix.
I just lost my baby of 13 yrs. on our anniversary June 18 2014 and I miss him terribly. I was given another one before he passed away, and she is beautiful, and sweet. But now I’m also wanting to get another pom puppy to raise along with Star,(the one given to me) also house breaking would be a little easier since she is housebroke, the puppy could take cues from her and plus I would also work with the nite time outing though. I also do my own grooming and training. He was the love of my life, (besides my husband of course), because he was the first pom I ever had. He passed away in front of my shower. He was a pistol, but he was also a character too. To get my attention for something he wanted, he would take his paw, and make the spring door stopper make noise. If I looked away, he would do it again, until I looked at him again and got up to get him what he wanted. He was a very smart little boy. I miss him so much.
As far as Star goes, this lady brings her into our vet because she couldn’t keep her at her home any longer after finding her wondering the streets in her neighborhood, and no one calling for her. My husband went in to get meds for Bear(my baby), saw this pom(Star), and told this lady that he had to get me out of the car so I could see this pretty girl. This lady didn’t want to go anywhere near a shelter, so we told her we would do it if they wouldn’t put her down. The vet place told us where there was a no kill one, we looked it up, and even on their web site it said “no kill”. So we went there, put in found everywhere we could think of and asked if no one comes to get her, if we can have her when the amount of time to wait is up? Well, they said they couldn’t say for sure if she would be there or put down. I said to them, that I thought you said it was a no kill? They said they got so many that it was hard to keep all those dogs and cats without space. So that night, we decided right then and there, we weren’t going to leave her there and took her home with us.
She started peeing in small puddles with a little lite blood. So we went to PetSmart and got some pee pads and also got her a Christmas dress as it was a week before Christmas,(I renamed her Star). The next day we took her the vet, got her on antibiotics, eventually, got ex-rays taken, and found out she had 3 bladder stones the size of walnuts. They didn’t know how much time she would have left if she didn’t have surgery to remove them. So we said we would pay to have it done, that saved her life and she was so happy and her sweetness was still intact. I just can’t believe no one claimed or went looking for this beautiful precious girl. Well, I’m the lucky one now.
I just lost my baby of 13 yrs. on our anniversary June 18 2014 and I miss him terribly. I was given another one before he passed away, and she is beautiful, and sweet. But now I’m also wanting to get another pom puppy to raise along with Star,(the one given to me) also house breaking would be a little easier since she is housebroke, the puppy could take cues from her and plus I would also work with the nite time outing though. I also do my own grooming and training. He was the love of my life, (besides my husband of course), because he was the first pom I ever had. He passed away in front of my shower. He was a pistol, but he was also a character too. To get my attention for something he wanted, he would take his paw, and make the spring door stopper make noise. If I looked away, he would do it again, until I looked at him again and got up to get him what he wanted. He was a very smart little boy. I miss him so much.
As far as Star goes, this lady brings her into our vet because she couldn’t keep her at her home any longer after finding her wondering the streets in her neighborhood, and no one calling for her. My husband went in to get meds for Bear(my baby), saw this pom(Star), and told this lady that he had to get me out of the car so I could see this pretty girl. This lady didn’t want to go anywhere near a shelter, so we told her we would do it if they wouldn’t put her down. The vet place told us where there was a no kill one, we looked it up, and even on their web site it said “no kill”. So we went there, put in found everywhere we could think of and asked if no one comes to get her, if we can have her when the amount of time to wait is up? Well, they said they couldn’t say for sure if she would be there or put down. I said to them, that I thought you said it was a no kill? They said they got so many that it was hard to keep all those dogs and cats without space. So that night, we decided right then and there, we weren’t going to leave her there and took her home with us.
She started peeing in small puddles with a little lite blood. So we went to PetSmart and got some pee pads and also got her a Christmas dress as it was a week before Christmas,(I renamed her Star). The next day we took her the vet, got her on antibiotics, eventually, got ex-rays taken, and found out she had 3 bladder stones the size of walnuts. They didn’t know how much time she would have left if she didn’t have surgery to remove them. So we said we would pay to have it done, that saved her life and she was so happy and her sweetness was still intact. I just can’t believe no one claimed or went looking for this beautiful precious girl. Well, I’m the lucky one now.