Date of Death:
It is with extreme sadness that I tell you our beautiful girl, Sandy, passed over the Rainbow Bridge today. We adopted Sandy (aka Vanna per MAGSR) in December 2013. Sandy developed lymphoma and was diagnosed in October 2021. The doctor only gave her a few months to live. Luckily for us, she exceeded that estimate. We started chemo for our beautiful dog. The lymphoma went into remission. We were told the cancer was not curable. The cancer stayed in remission until the end of March 2022. We did absolutely everything to try to save Sandy. She was loved so so much and I and my husband are devastated by her passing. The house seems empty without her. We got Sandy special prescribed medication, chemo, learned how to infuse her with saline with electrolytes to help her physically, took her to the hospital when things weren't good, made scrambled eggs, and broiled chicken for her because she would not eat dog food any more. We stayed up nights with her to comfort her when she wasn't feeling well and let her out numerous times during the sleepless nights so she could go to the bathroom. All of that was done out of real love for our girl Sandy. We miss her so much already.
During her life with us, we took her and our other two dogs, Truffles and Duchess, on vacations to the beach. We walked in the park near our house. She had a nice fenced in backyard to run around in. She got the best dog food, and best medical care that we could get. She got nylon bones to chew on, soft dog beds to sleep on, a warm house to stay in. We gave her the best we could afford. She would sleep in our bed if she felt like it and she was welcome to do so. But most of all she got our loving attention.
Sandy came to us with a broken heart. She had been passed around from house to house and was sure we would get rid of her too for the longest time. We used to look at her and tell her that she was stuck with us. Lol. But, she didn't believe us. She had a wonderful personality. We had another German Shepherd who had DM. Sandy was the most compassionate dog I have ever seen. The dog with DM was lying on a dog pillow. Sandy went up and lied down beside her and put her paw on the other dogs arm and she did this numerous times. It was like, I'm here to support and comfort you. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. A real heart of gold. She liked to comfort other sick or injured dogs. She had her quirks. Don't we all. She liked absolutely clean sheets with no creases in them. Would not sleep on anything else. She liked absolutely clean water with no other dog drinking in the same water. Kind of hard to do with 3 dogs. But, we changed the water many times a day. She didn't like going out in the rain. She would give me a look like why are you making it rain? She didn't like stepping in puddles or mud. She would try to walk around both. We found some of these things very amusing and made us love her more. It was Sandy. She would stand at the bottom of the stairs and howl a welcome while wagging her tail. It made you feel very welcomed and loved. We would take her for a walk. She was slow leaving the house and walking away from it. But, on the back home, she was like a horse racing back to it's barn. Sandy would start really pulling on the leash to get us to move faster so she could get back to comfort of her home. Home was a word she loved. And she loved her home and she loved us. We were greeted very enthusiastically whenever we came home.
One more story about Sandy to show what an amazing dog she was. I have so many wonderful stories and times with Sandy. The day before she passed away, it was early in the morning. My husband was getting ready for work. I was still asleep. This was after Sandy had not eaten for a week because the cancer medication she was given destroyed her stomach and she would not eat at all no matter how much we begged her to eat. Therefore, she had gotten very physically weak. We live in a colonial house where you have to climb a lot of stairs to get to our bedrooms. We had helped Sandy up and down those stairs because she wanted to be near us at night. All our dogs have full run of the house and they decide where they want to sleep at night. So, suddenly that morning I was awaken by Sandy in my room trying to wake me up to take her downstairs so she could go to the bathroom outside. The reason this was so amazing is because she had been downstairs and in her weaken condition she climbed each stair by herself. She literally put herself in jeopardy by climbing the stairs by herself. It probably took every ounce of strength she had left in her body. My husband was in the shower and I was still asleep. It was so important to her to get me and ask me to take her outside so she could go to the bathroom. She was so amazing that even in her weaken state she was not going to go to the bathroom in the house. That tells you just how amazing Sandy was. Incredible dog. I miss her so much. My husband and I have been crying since yesterday when we had to let her go and free her from her pain. We truly miss the warmth of her love.
So, Sandy passing away today is a big loss for us. I can't say it enough, we already miss her so much. Sandy was very loved. All she wanted was to be loved and to find a permanent home. She got her dream because she had both with us. There is definitely a feeling like I'm missing a part of myself. We will remember our beautiful compassionate fun loving Sandy for the rest of our lives. She made our life so much better.
Leo and Mary Maksymchock
