We euthanized Chili this morning.  She was 13 1/2.  We strongly suspect a
brain tumor caused her seizures & rapidly increasing neurological issues. 

Chili & her 4 sisters arrived at Golden Retriever Rescue in Nebraska, one
bitterly cold January night during GRRIN's 1996 annual meeting.  The skinny
little girls were 10 weeks old.  Chili fostered with us for four crazy,
happy months, until her adoption to someone else!  (Gary & I did not think
we could adopt another dog; we had 2 Goldens already, for goodness sake!)

In the days following Chili's departure, Chili stopped eating.  Meanwhile, I
couldn't stop crying. It became increasingly clear that Chili & I were
heartbroken.  Chili continued her hunger strike until the family returned
her to GRRIN. Gary & I had The Talk, deciding that perhaps we could have 3
dogs & still take in a foster dog, after all.  What a happy, happy day,
adopting Chili.

In her younger years, Chili delighted in waiting until company arrived,
ransacking the dirty clothes hamper, and then strolling through the crowd
with underwear in her mouth.  She carried shopping bags & dogfood bags, and
she once brought the dogsitter a live opossum.  She liked to wear outfits;
jackets in the winter & t-shirts during thunderstorms & bandanas just for
fun.  When in her prime, Chili was a strict disciplinarian toward rowdy
fosters; she made the rules & she enforced them.  You'll note her wrinkly
nose in one of the group photos.  By my calculations, Chili went on 4,823
Nightly 5:00 Dog Drives.  She road in our airplane.  She went to Mozart's
for breakfast & shopped at the Farmer's Market.  Chili helped foster
approximately 180 of our foster dogs.  And she left a hole 5 miles wide in
our lonely hearts.

Margo & Gary
05/03/09