Pepi, Our Angel in Brown Fur

 If there is such a thing as perfection in a dog, it would describe our beloved “Pepi.”

She had been abandoned by some unknown people; left alone and scared in a huge abandoned lot. She was rescued by a friend of a friend, who couldn’t keep her. My friend Ben couldn’t keep her either as he already had two dogs.

Ben called us that fateful Christmas day and asked if we wanted a dog, I immediately and emphatically said, “No!” Ben ignored me and brought us this thin and malnourished “Angel in Brown Fur,” to our Christmas dinner, she was perfect, and we immediately fell in love.

 She didn’t know where to do her business, so we found two “leavings” in our back bedroom. I couldn’t yell at her, as she had no idea where to go. I brought her outside and showed her where to do her business; we only had to show her once; she never did her business inside the house again.

We gave her two toys, a stuffed raccoon and a rubber chicken. She never destroyed them, and we still have them today. Pepi never chewed on furniture, she never destroyed anything. Yet, she was an alpha female. She was so self-confident and self-assured, but so well behaved. We took her everywhere. She was as good in crowds as she was when we left her alone for a few hours to go to a movie.

Pepi was a pit bull and shar-pei mix with a very strong personality, who was also extremely gentle and kind. One day while I was cleaning out our garage, Pepi walked up to me with something in her mouth, I walked over to her to see what it was. She had found a young bird that had apparently fallen out of its nest; she gently dropped the bird at my feet and it immediately flew away, totally unharmed.

Pepi was also our mascot at “The Home Mag,” We brought her to work with us every day and she would sun herself on the grass right outside of the office; she never strayed or ran after cars; she always stayed right by the front door of the office.

 We took many car trips together, which she loved. She was comfortable in new spaces as long as we were with her, and she never acted up or whined. She just let us know when she wanted to go out by standing quietly by the door. I think I raised my voice to her once in the entire 10-1/2 years we were blessed to have her with us.

At home, one of her favorite past times was sitting on the arm of our sofa and watching the world go by through our picture window. She loved having her velvet-soft head rubbed, and she unabashedly would lay on her back, totally trusting, while we rubbed her belly and gave her a good body massage.

We knew she was very ill, she had aggressive mast cell tumors. She had surgery to remove some nasty growths, but the cancer was too pervasive. She never complained! On the Sunday before she passed, she went on two long walks and acted fine. It was as if she wanted to give us one last good day.

On Monday, November 17, 2014 - We lost her that morning. Even to her last day, she was the perfect lady. She didn’t want to do anything in the house, so she spent her last night outside on the stone-cold patio floor. She was barely breathing when we finally found her. We put a towel under her, and we carried her back into the house. We wrapped her in a blanket to keep her warm, but we knew it was her time to go. Her eyes were red and there was blood coming out of her nose. We put her in the back of my SUV; she was still with us. When we arrived at the Vets, we sat with her in the back of the car, talking to her and letting her know how much she meant to us, how much we loved her, but we let her know that she would soon be free of pain. She stayed with us for a few minutes longer. The Vets assistant came out and checked her heart. She had stopped breathing while she was in my arms. I closed her eyes for the last time.

Pepi was our Angel in Brown Fur, she was heaven sent. We have big holes in our hearts, we will always miss her.