Story and photo submitted by Kristey
18 years ago, we first fell in love with Skip, a little low-riding dog, when we saw him with his Maltese brother, Blizzard, at a shelter in Saratoga Springs, NY. His docile demeanor and wide-eyed glance gave us the warmest feeling in our hearts. That warm feeling has continued through the pleasure of having him close to everyone in this family of four. Skip has seen good times and bad times, and has continued to give us all continuous love, comfort, and fun that a family can ask for.
Skip has seen many places, lived in two family homes, and observed our family's journey through this beautiful thing called life. Skip has always been by our side, hoping, playing, running, digging, giving all the love he could give to us. He is known in the neighborhood as the 'miracle dog,' due to a sudden fall off the first small step off the front porch. Dachshunds are known for back injuries due to their extremely long backs. Skip's back needed emergency surgery and he barely made it through the surgery and recovery. As the recovery continued, we provided aqua therapy in our pool everyday. After 3 months of this therapy, he could walk again. This surgery put five more years onto Skip's life, as well as five more years of happiness and love from an exceptional dog.
He is now 18 years old and his back legs have given out. We are hopeful that he will make it through but we think he is just hanging on to because of his dedication to his family. This old man has given us much joy and made the days so wonderful and bright the past 18 years. Everyone who has had the pleasure of meeting him has fallen in love, just like we did. Thank you, Skip, for being the best dog!