Cinnamon (1987 - 2000)

Our Cinny (11 wks) with her Clover (11.5 yrs) & Erin

She was our beautiful light red & white girl. Her birthdate was the same day as our wedding anniversary. She loved her adopted mom, Clover. Where one went, the other followed. When Cinnamon was around 3 years old, we noticed that she looked a little bow-legged in her back legs. Our vet said that she had the first signs of hip displasia. We didn’t care, what ever was to come we would deal with it to keep her healthy. Cinnamon was a talker. She would sit down in front of you, put her head in the air & woo to you stories. She would sing ‘the bye-bye’ song. Little bye-byes would be the side fenced-in run; big bye-byes would be the back yard. If I said little bye-byes she would woo softly or get louder to go out in the back yard. She would woo to us the bye-bye song when we asked her if she had to go out. When our daughter Erin was home & happened to be watching TV in our breakfast room when Cinny wanted to go out she would go over to Erin & woo loudly. If Erin would happen to ignore her, Cinny would take her nose & give Erin's chair a shove. Since the chair was on wheels, Erin would be given a ride by Cinny until she got off of her tush & let her out. It was hysterical to watch! She was an everybody's dog, but when I was around she never left my side. She loved sharing an apple with Joel.

When Cinny was around 10 yrs. old, our vet then discovered that she had a mass growing on her side & told us that it had to come out because it was starting to grow around some of her organs. The waiting was the hardest! She recovered & the growth, thankfully, was not the "C" word.

However, her beautiful red & white fur did not grow back on the side of the surgery. That was so painful to see! We did lots of tests & every one of them came back normal. But her beautiful red & white fur did not grow back.

The winter before Cinny became 12, she was out in the side run. Joel & I heard a loud scream from her. We hurried out & found her on the ground. She apparently had slipped on the ice & could not get up. I thought we were saying good-bye to her that night. We got her inside & the next morning I called our vet. He saw her that day. She had torn the ACL in her back leg. He told us that surgery could fix it. Since he did not do that type of surgery he recommended us to an orthopedic vet in the area who only took patients strictly by referrals from other vets. We took Cinny to this so-called great doctor! Do I sound cynical!! Well, he gave us great hope that even at her age, she would bounce back & be stronger than ever. I remember the evening that we picked her up from the animal hospital. She was in so much pain. We made a bed for her in her spot in the bookcase where she loved to sleep. She screamed all night in pain. When I couldn't take it anymore, I went downstairs & slept on the floor with her. Since her one back leg was so heavily bandaged, we had to help her walk outside or up or down stairs with a towel under her belly. When we thought we were through the recovery period, Cinny's other back leg started to give out on her. We took her back to the surgeon to find out what we could do for her. Now at the initial visit with the surgeon-vet, he knew that both of Cinny's back legs were not the strongest. AND, he left out something BIG about what could occur after the surgery. When we took Cinny back to see him, he looked at us & told us that I told you that the other leg could go while the other one was healing. Joel & I looked at each other & couldn't believe that he said that - cause that was what he had forgot to inform us before the surgery. I had to grab Joel's arm because he almost knocked that doctor on his a-s! I wouldn't have put our girl through any surgery if I had known this would/could have happened! She was in so much pain. We took her home with pain meds & kept her with us until the day she looked in my eyes with so much pain that I knew that it was time to let her go. With Clover, I didn't get to be there to say good-bye. With Cinny the whole family was with her, and I held her in my arms until she crossed over. She was a part of our family & she had family members around her when it was her time to cross the Rainbow Bridge & be with her Clovie!

The Queen of the Picnic Table!

This was Cinny's favorite spot to sunbathe. She wouldn't let any of her other 4-legged companions get up on her table.