Puppynurse-911

11/12/20111/12/2012

Forgive me ahead of time for going into GREAT detail on Rhonda (Pet Peepers) and why I cannot thank her and her f amily enough for her services in watching our pet.

Mookie, our 16 year old Dobbie/Rot, was the last of her lineage. She was born the runt of her litter, hell, I even had to feed her from a baby bottle with goat's milk to ensure she lived.

My wife and I had a trip planned to go to the Mainland (California) for our annual trip to go to the Monterey Jazz Festival with my father....a NOT to miss event.

We had a dog sitter planned and booked our travel.

About 2 weeks before our trip, Mookie started having difficulty with her hind (back) legs.

She started staggering around occassionally. And I noticed that each day it got progressively worse.

I took Mookie to the vet and they said, "well, it's probably her joints since she is so old." They offered to put her down, to which I immediately declined!

Each morning, I'd pick Mookie up and carry her outside, carefully standing her up and applying pressure to her stomach until she peed out all she could.

Then, Mookie would not have the strength to walk around, rather, she would just collapse down into a seated position again.....poor thing.

She began urinating and defecating in her bed because she could not stand on her own.

The time came to "have that chat" with my wife......I frickin hated it.

"Honey, we leave in 3 days and the dog sitter cannot possibly handle all this work that Mookie requires now..."

My wife glared at me and said "Don't you dare!"

So, I started calling dog sitters.

I wasted a few phone calls on Craigslist, all seemed very unprofessional and didn't give me that warm and fuzzy feeling.

I mean, sheesh, my dog was getting worse daily and couldn't just leave her with anybody. 

Our goal was to have her stick around until we got back from our two week trip.

That was a VERY tall order we came to find out....

Our vet was going to charge $45/day. Which was not terrible, but, the thought of Mookie, sleeping in a cold and sterile environment and missing us just broke my heart, and certainly would hers.

Miraculously we found Rhonda and Pet Peepers.

The first impression when meeting Rhonda, was like "where have you been all Mookie's life?"

We told her how dire Mookie's situation was, appologized profusely for even asking her to consider watching her for two weeks since she'd probably not survive that long.

She insisted that she would look after her better than anyone else and we believed her.

Heck, Rhonda even set up a remote camera so we can view Mookie throughout the day.

During our trip we were inspired to know that Mookie started getting stronger, eating, smiling, wagging he r tail, etc! Exciting to us.

Rhonda set up Skype so we could see Mookie and Mookie could hear our voices, to which Mookie immediately perked up! So wonderful!

Rhonda reported almost daily and it was obvious that Mookie had more love and attention than we have ever given her!

Mookie had lost complete control over all four legs and even her head....so she'd just lie around and move her eyes...;-( So sad

But Rhonda and her family gave her daily overdoses of love and attention that made Mookie really enjoy her twilight so much.

So, our trip ended, and on the flight back, I said to my wife, "honey, if Mookie is still around we will need to make a decision on what is best for Mookie..."

Rhonda dropped Mookie off shortly after we arrived...we were SO happy to be able to see her again, what a GIFT!!

Mookie was both thrilled to see us and seemingly bummed to leave that amazing family's care. Can't blame her!

In a terribly difficult decision, we put Mookie to sleep two days later...(sigh)....

The most important point of this review is this:

I can honestly say that the ONLY reason Mookie was able to survive and thrive and be happy is because of the OVER AND ABOVE care and love that she received from Rhonda and her family at Pet Peepers.....

That was such an amazing gift for my wife and me to come home, and have a few quality days of our wonderful Mookie....

We are 100% positive that if we took Mookie ANYWHERE else, she would not have been able to have those final days with us....

Thank you Rhonda, you are an absolute gift from Heaven...

Love, Samuel, Vanessa & Mookie