A Girl and Her Dogs

Tiffy

This was one special little Pomeranian. When I met Damien she was the love of his life and his best friend. She would sleep on his feet and then move to his head when it stormed. She couldn’t stand to be ignored - if you were reading a book, she would come and lay down right on top of it. On New Year’s Eve we would dip our fingers in champagne and give her a taste. Her favorite thing was butter pecan ice cream, and she only ate boiled chicken and rice (never dog food!) And whenever we’d bathe her, she’d always hold up one paw (she hated water) and she looked like a wet rat! She would tip toe in wet grass and always kick up the ground to cover her ‘business’. When she got riled up, she would paw at the ground with her front paws, just like a bull - we called her El Toro! And when she wanted her tummy rubbed, she’d roll over on her back and stretch out and wait - we called it ‘assuming the position’ - it was too cute!!

Tiffy was, by far, the prettiest pom I have ever seen. Pretty and prissy and feisty for such a little dog! She knew what she wanted - her daddy’s love and attention - and she always got it!

I loved that little pom, too - she never took to me as much as her daddy, of course (poms tend to be a one person dog), but we had a special little bond.

When she was 13, she passed away from tracheal collapse, just 2 days after Tyson passed away. It was one of the most painful and difficult things Damien has ever had to go through - it just broke our hearts.

We love you, Tiffy. You were (and still are) our Fla, Schniggs, Tiny Tiffy Tiff, Pom Pilot, Pom Tree, our Foxy Fox. We know a good pom never goes bad. We will miss you always and you know we will always have a very special place in our hearts. And we know you visit us through Sibby often - and we thank you for those pieces and aspects of you in her. We will never forget you, Baby.

Tyson Cole

If it wasn’t for Tyson, we wouldn’t have the majority of our dogs!

He showed up on the doorstep of Damien’s mother’s home during a hurricane - he was just a few months old. She named him Ace and fed him for 3 months. We saw him one day when we went to visit, and it was love at first sight! We bathed him and brought him home. He became Tyson Cole - one of our family. At that time we only had Brittini, Tiffy, and Berkeley.

A few months later, Berkeley came into heat - she was almost 5 and had never had a heat yet, so we thought she never would. Much to our surprise, a month later we found out she was pregnant! We were SO excited!

Two weeks before she was due, we let Tyson out to play like we did often. We lived on a short, quiet country road with only 3 houses (and we were renting) so we had no fenced in yard yet. Out of nowhere a car came down the lane just as Ty ran in front of it. He passed away in our arms almost instantly.

2 weeks later - on the 4th of July, Berkeley had a litter of 11 pups. One didn’t make it, but the other 10 grew to be healthy and happy babies - 5 of which are still with us today! From Berkeley and Ty we got Sibby, TyGirl (firstborn and named after her daddy, of whom she looks just like), Nikki, Jenna, Libby, Nate, Liam (gave to a loving home), Mikey (now lives with my mom - he looks so much like Tyson, too!), Coleson Ty (he got loose right after we moved our new house 2 years ago), and Criss (who passed away 1 1/2 years ago).

Since then, Jenna Bean gave birth to a litter of 7, and we kept Piper Maru and Fedor. A year later she gave birth to another litter of 7, and we kept Jilly Bean. Sibby gave birth to a litter of 6 and we kept Nia, Mikeylah and Cow. TyGirl gave birth to a litter of 7, and we kept Cashleigh, Lil’ Hugs and Lisie. And Libby gave birth to a litter of 3, and we kept Gizmo and Lil’ Bear.

We don’t know what breed Tyson was. One vet said Newfoundland mix, and another said Field Spaniel - but we believe that he had a bit of wolf in his blood, too (only because of how he looked - not his temperament! He was the SWEETEST boy - and full of mischief!)

I remember how much he loved his moo cow woobie - the one that was berber fleece and had 8 legs that rattled. I remember when we dressed him up in my LSU t-shirt and it swallowed him but he ran around in it anyway - it was so funny! And I always knew who the culprit was when my bread and hot dog buns (and even the hot dogs - or anything for that matter) were missing from the kitchen counter top! I even caught him ON the countertop eating the buns once! And I LOVED how he would rest his face on the top of the gate and peer over it. TyGirl does that, too! And I miss the way his paws felt when he would walk on my back when I was laying down on the bed - they were like furry little spiders! We loved that boy, and always will.

Sadly, we didn’t take many pictures of Tyson at the time, so we only have a few. Here are the best ones:

We love and miss you, Tyson. Thank you for our babies - it was the best gift you could have given us!