Rainbow Bridge Memorial

Dearly missed by Vic, Connie & Scar Renz

In September, 2007 we drove to the kennel to pick out a female buddy for our alpha male, Scar, who was 7.5 then. Tomi ran straight to us with her rear-end wagging and her tongue a-licking. We knew right away that she had chosen us. Scar taught her all the ropes of living in a home, how to use the dog door, and exploring the big yard. In turn, Tomi quickly taught Scar how to have fun and be more social.

Except for her habit of literally ingesting anything plastic, she was a perfect dog. She got along with everybody and everything. She ran at least once every day in whatever weather was upon us. She even got Scar to TRY to run with her. We think the highlight of Tomi’s short life was the three weeks last fall when Enzo stayed with us. She loved having a running buddy who could keep up with and even beat her at least once daily!

We’ll never forget Tomi and her plastic obsession. Shortly after her arrival, we came home to find a nearly pot-less large floor plant; Tomi had eaten about ½ of the large plastic pot and left not a bit on the floor. Last December we found a little pile of teeny springs, batteries and doo-dads on her pillow; she had opened a stuffie, found the squeaker, and ate the plastic box. We had long-ago removed all plastic in the house, but we forgot the stuffies.

The end of October Tomi was struck hard with immune deficiency disease which resulted in a four-day hospital stay. The whole vet staff loved her! After a few hours the vet called to say she didn’t think Tomi would make it since she was lying on her back with all 4 feet up. We chuckled since that is how Tomi was most comfortable. The vets told us she was the best patient, who went through all the testing, tubes and procedures with her tail a-wagging. (She put up a major drama-queen scene though every time we cut her toenails.) Tomi didn’t run anymore after that.

Tomi had a second attack in mid-January with another 3 days in the hospital, and that’s when we decided that the next time she got sick, we’d let her go. She was not her usual self after becoming ill and there was no cure for her. She lasted two months longer than expected.

Tomi loved lying on her back on any surface-hard or soft- whether it was the kitchen, bathroom, hallway, patio, pillow, crate-just so she had a place to prop up her feet. On one of her first walks we stopped to talk to a neighbor and Tomi just plopped down on the asphalt and took a nap! Tomi was a very social dog who was always wherever we were and never got tired of loving. She waited for carrots and ice cubes. She was the official timekeeper of the family, lest we forget when breakfast, dinner, snack, or med time was. She was a perfect companion for us and a perfect buddy for Scar.

On the way to the vet’s on her last day, she mustered enough energy to stand up in my van and licked my elbow, I petted her and told her to lie down, she did- and then she died. Tomi lived, loved and died on her own terms!
We will miss our “girlie” but we are so thankful for the short 17 months we had with her.

Vic, Connie & Scar Renz