When we first met Tilly, she looked so sad and tired, having just been rescued with several other dogs from a puppy mill. Her buddy Max the chihuahua snuggled up close to her trying to cheer her up, but as we found out later Tilly had 2 dead puppies calcified in her uterus, a bad heart, bad eyes, bad teeth, a bad spine and, despite an initial bath by the rescue organization, she reeked of urine. We took the buddies home and popped them into the tub. Tilly lit up with happiness- she was a clean queen!- and celebrated by running happily around the house, wagging her tail and giving kisses. She continued to do this up until the very end, when her legs gave out. When I lay down on the couch, these two jumped right up on top of me and slept on my tummy, grinning as they snored away. We all knew that these dogs were finally at their forever home. With all of her health problems, we thought that we would be lucky to share a few weeks, maybe a few months with our sweet Tilly, and we determined to make that time just the best ever for her. Our scrappy lady lived on for 6 and half more years, however, bringing us so much more joy and love than we could ever imagine! From her sweet snore to her love of food (and sneaky tricks for finding it), to her goofy tongue that always hung out of her wide beautiful smile, to her literal stopping to smell the flowers on every walk or hike we took, Tilly surprised and delighted us always. She even hiked up Mt. Si! She gave me hope and companionship as my own body rebelled through multiple MS attacks. We are forever grateful that with the help of her excellent care team, Tilly was able to have more time on this earth filled with fun and love than she did under the horrific conditions of the puppy mill. She was a one of a kind, tough little love bug who loved pears and salmon skin and being with us more than anything else. We miss her every day.

Tina M.