We kept our promise to Gigi; we loved her, spoiled her, and kept her comfortable until it was time for the Angels to come and take her home. She passed peacefully, on her own terms during an afternoon nap in her favorite bed here at the Sanctuary – and our hearts are shattered yet again.
Although we as humans want to hang on to life forever, here at Paws Give Me Purpose, we believe dogs actually know there is something else after death. We have witnessed many different kinds of passings and it never gets easier. But, we have noticed that dogs seem to accept death peacefully; they accept it with grace, dignity and in some cases filled with joy.
Gigi was an ancient Toy Poodle who arrived at our Sanctuary back in April of 2022. Sadly, she was another beautiful senior soul who was extremely neglected, had a badly injured leg, and then was tossed out onto the streets by those she thought would love her forever.
She was a walking skeleton, completely blind in one eye, and could only see shadows with the other. She had a gash on her right knee, mammary tumors, and suffered with hip dysplasia. She only had full use of 3 out of her 4 legs; one of her rear legs just dangled on occasion – it was an old injury that never received medical attention therefore it healed badly but with some physical therapy and laser treatments we were able to help restore some mobility.
Yet despite having been abandoned in her senior years, with all these medical issues, she was a very sweet bubbly girl who hopped around seeking out love and affection from every human she met.
She most definitely lived every day in the moment, unencumbered by the knowledge of her own mortality. She lived every day to the fullest, we could tell she felt safe, and felt the power of our love – that’s what we believe kept her going.
Betty White said it best, “I may be a senior, but so what? I’m still hot” – that was our little Gigi’s motto. A ton of spunk and a big flirt with all the boys here in our senior center, and she didn’t even care if they liked her back or not. In general, Gigi was not a fan of other dogs but when it came to the boys, she wanted who she wanted.
Gigi preferred human companionship more so than having dog friends and hated sharing her space, humans and attention with other dogs. If she was on a lap, getting attention, having her hair brushed etc; she did not want to share that human, or that moment, with any other dogs and boy would she let them know her opinions. She was very outspoken and extremely protective of her space and humans, and although she would tolerate other dogs being around she wasn’t really a fan of close encounters.
She claimed the giant round bed here in our senior center for herself and would give other dogs a very difficult time if they tried to lay down on it too. It was her spot and everyone knew it. We worked hard at teaching her to share, but she was who she was and that was not going to change – at her age, we never expected it to, so it all came down to proper management of each situation that arose.
We never really knew anything about Gigi’s prior life and only had glimpses based on her behavior. Despite this, we gave Gigi her best life daily, unconditionally and just like every dog that walks through our Sanctuary doors, our goal is to provide respect and dignity no matter their age, appearance or health status; and we did just that.
We would like to acknowledge Gigi’s generous Sanctuary sponsors Debbie and Brian for assisting us with her care and helping give us the ability to provide her with everything she ever needed and then some. On behalf of little Gigi, we thank you from the bottom of her little heart and ours.
Every dog that walks through our door is special and Gigi’s memory will always be a big part of our Sanctuary. Thank you Gigi for allowing us to love and spoil you. You will always live on in our hearts; we were blessed to have known you!
