K & M’s Sassy Little Lady
American Cocker Spaniel
November 21, 1992 – July 21, 2005

My boyfriend gave my “Lady Girl” to me for our first anniversary. He took me to pick out a puppy and he had asked the woman that was selling the puppies to bring out one of the male puppies. When she did one of the other puppies snuck out of the room. As soon as I seen her I knew she was the one for me. I was 16 at the time and I had always wanted a cocker spaniel puppy. I was so excited to bring her home she was so cute and sassy. She was the best dog. “Lady” was always there for me whenever I needed someone; she always knew when I needed her comforting. I would not have traded her for any other dog in the world. In March of 2005, she was got diagnosed with cancer. She never showed any signs of being sick, she was always so happy. We had two options one was to have surgery, open up her nose, and try to remove the tumor, which would have been very painful for her. The other option was to try chemotherapy, which could be painful but we could stop the treatment if it was. She did awesome through all of her treatments never showing any signs of pain. Always eating, never refusing any of the medications or getting sick. Unfortunately, we did not catch the tumor in time and it kept growing. One night she started bleeding and it would not stop, I could see that she was in a lot of pain. I knew in my head it was time, but my heart did not want to let her go. The choice I had to make that night was the hardest choice I have ever made. I wish I had had more time with her. She is still my best friend. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about her. You will always be in our hearts. We miss you, Love MariAnn, Paul and Tramp

Little Ono came to our family on July 1, 1998.

When I first went to meet her, her owner was standing outside with her on a leash. When she saw me get out of the car, she just took off running toward me...all I could see were little feet and ears! I fell in love instantly! When my husband saw me get out of the truck with her, his words were: "Oh, no...Kim got another puppy." His next words were "Come here, sweetie pie;" it was love at first sight. We named her Ono.

Ono's next great experience her first day with us was exploring our yard. She ran and ran and ran, until I thought she would collapse from exhaustion. She had been raised in an apartment, and she was totally delighted at how much room she had to play!

Ono was our companion for almost 6 years. She traveled with us, swam with us, mooched popcorn when we'd watch a movie, and yes, as you can guess, slept faithfully by our side. Her favorite past times were chasing the "bug," a flashlight beam or other light reflection, and playing hide-n-seek with her beloved tickle me Elmo. We would squeeze Elmo, then toss him somewhere in the house, and Ono's joy was to find him before he would stop laughing. Every morning when we'd wake up (sometimes with a solid whump! from her beanbag toy, a reminder that it was time to get up and play!), Ono would greet me by popping her head over to my side of the bed. I'd tell her good morning, then tell her "Go say hi to dad" and she'd pop her little head up on my husband's side of the bed. So much love from one precious little girl.

Sadly, Ono died when our home burned to the ground on April 16.
We lost our baby girl that day; we are still heart broken.

Lucy, our beloved 11 year old black and tan American cocker, was one of a kind. In her life, she brought so much happiness in our lives, and I owe it to her to share some of the stories.

Lucy thought that she was people. A typical day in our home would see her sitting beside Dad in the La-z-boy, back parallel to Dad's, but nestled in the crook of his arm. She would sit there intently for hours watching ESPN, with the occasional snort in the ear (her way of kissing).

One day, we had a man trying to sell us an insurance policy. Lucy regarded the man as interesting as last months newspaper. As he flipped through pages of the proposed policy, Lucy kept pace with him, turning her head with each page. She'd occasionally snort out her opinion as the man asked us questions. Needless to say, she was stealing the show, and the salesman didn't particularly appreciate this. Toward the end of his spiel, Lucy had grown bored, and finally, with a thunderous bout of snoring, collapsed on the book and put the entire house (except the salesman) into an uproarious fit of laughter. We didn't buy any new insurance that day, but we DID give Lucy a treat after the man left.

Back in the day when my parents were rather poor, and Lucy was yet a pup, Mom decided it'd be great to surprise Dad with a great big steak, grilled to perfection on their new charcoal dome. When Dad got home from work that evening, Mom had the table set with our finest, closest matched dishes with baked potatoes, a sandwich for her, and my Dad's dripping porterhouse. While they were washing up, Dad's mouth wasn't the only one watering. The next moment they turned around, there stood little Lucy, head held proudly high, with the steak dragging on the kitchen floor. My Dad and Lucy stared at each other with equal defiance, but ultimately, Lucy won the battle. 

As a tribute to her intelligence, her mischievous demeanor won her many prizes throughout her life. Figuring out how to undo the child-proofed locks on our cabinets was one mere example. How she convinced our family to buy new chairs was the kicker. If only we'd had a video camera set up! Unbeknownst to her, Lucy had eyewitnesses to her most spectacular feat. She cleverly waltzed into the kitchen, and with her paws, she batted the seat of our rolling kitchen chair around until the seat faced her. Then she propped herself up, with her paws on the seat, and effectively rolled the chair across the kitchen floor. When it hit the opposite countertop, she backed up, then took a jump up onto the seat, then onto the countertops, and feasted her eyes on the open bread box in before her. Well, after all that hard work, we just let her have her snack, and got another loaf of bread out of the freezer for ourselves! 

Fortunately for us, her "dumb blonde" companion, Jessie, never caught on to her crazy antics; except the tradition that they get their pancake on Sundays. Our cute little black and tan is the ultimate sweetheart, but will never have the mastermind Lucy did. That means a lot less spilled garbage cans around this household!

I sincerely hope that these stories have warmed your heart as they have to us. Although her body is buried and gone, her memory will never fade. This is in honor of Lucy, who has managed to unwittingly expand our hearts, our minds, and our home, in hopes of another cocker spaniel like her. We love you always, Lucy.