In Memorium: "Twerp"

Axel Sterling Gizmo Peetwerp, aka "Twerfie"

October 9, 1994 to December 26, 2008

Our little dog, Axel (aka Twerfie) was a 14 year old tiny toy poodle, who had developed an enlarged heart and probably congestive heart failure. He had four "episodes" two weeks before Christmas (Wed, Thurs, Fri) in which he basically died, and I brought him back by tapping on his chest to get his heart beating again. The vet believes that these episodes were fainting spells due to insufficient oxygen to the brain, not seizures, but the first couple of times he stopped breathing and his heart stopped. He had been put on Lasix to get the extra fluid out of his chest, and it seemed to be working up until Christmas Eve Day, when his breathing became very shallow again, and he had more episodes about every two hours all day long.

Twerfie passed away on December 26 while Ron and I were at work. We believe that he did not want either one of us to have to watch him die, and that he probably crossed over shortly after I left that day (Ron had gone to work before me). We came home and found him in his little bed, just as he had been in the morning. We took Axel to our vet's on last Saturday morning to make arrangements to have him cremated. It was so very very hard for Ron to let go and leave him there. We're doing okay, but it's been a rough few weeks.

You see, Twerfie was Ron's baby. Twerfie came to live with us two years ago on Christmas Eve. He attached himself to Ron while we were visiting my step-kids at their house. He ran to say hi to Ron when we got there, Ron picked him up, put him on his lap, and held him almost the entire time we were there. And that's where he pretty much stayed for the past two years, because my kids said "You can have him if you want him". No need to write any more about that.

Twerfie only weighed about 5-1/2 pounds, but his crossing over has laid a heavy weight of sadness on both of us. He will be very much missed. We hope though, that his boundless loving spirit will want to come back around and spend more time with us.