RIP Louie The King of All Pugs

[puglouie]

I know I'm not around here much these days -- just been trying to control my Internet addiction. But it's with the heaviest heart that I pass on the news that Louie is gone. He had a Grand Mal seizure Wednesday and never really recovered. He couldn't walk well or lift his leg to pee and the last night with me he spent alternately sleeping and waking up to cry and struggle to breathe. My husband and I made the toughest decision of our lives on Friday morning. My husband cut Louie some leftover steak and Louie rode to the vet in my arms with the window open -- the same place he was when we brought him home from rescue six years ago. We let him go Friday, May 20 around 1 p.m. He was in my arms, a belly full of steak. It was very peaceful. I cried a river into his fur and we said our goodbyes.

What can I say about the World's Greatest Pug, the dog who we thought we'd rescued but truly and completely rescued us? He will be missed and honored forever in our hearts. I can hardly write through the tears. He was the sweetest, most loyal pug and we were the best of friends. Is it possible to love a dog more than anyone or anything else in the world? I'm so so sad but it's a comfort to know I was there with him until the very end.

He was The Pug for me. My first, the one who showed me what being pugged was and who turned me into one of those people who show photos of their dogs to strangers. I will one day let more pugs into my life -- and there's Chamuco to keep our house four-legged -- but there will only be on heart dog, one Louie, The King of All Pugs.

Thank you to all my pug friends for your kind words and good thoughts. I know he heard every one of them as he passed on. It's a comfort to know I'm not alone and that everyone here understands exactly how this feels. All the kitchen floors in Pug Heaven will be cleaned well now.