To start out, let me tell you about Oreo. She was a dapple Dachshund/Chihuahua mix we got from some lady for $5. Oreo was wonderful, she was so smart, a little bitchy, and loved food more than anything else in the world. She lived a good 13 years that tragically came to an end on Friday, Jan. 18, 2019.

We got Oreo as a ripe little puppy, she quickly became part of the family. She was my first puppy, we had had other dogs before her, but she was the only one we got as a puppy. I was 9, and although kids are not usually any help when it comes to cleaning puppy messes and all the other things that come with puppyhood, she did help me learn some responsibility. At the time we had a Chihuahua named Kirby who was about 10. He hated his new baby sister.

Puppy OreoAnna Dean

Oreo was quite the glutton, she loved food. She didn't eat to live, she lived to eat. So she was always a little pudgy. At one point, she ripped a tendon in her back leg and need surgery, the vet called it a "weekend warrior" injury, but other than that, she was pretty healthy her whole life.

Fast forward to 2016, we had only had Oreo for a while now and I was dying to have another puppy around. In comes wonderful, goofy Daisy, a silly little Australian Shepard /Beagle mix who stole my heart. Now Oreo was the big sister with the annoying little puppy she hated running around. She never got the irony in that.

Oreo and DaisyAnna Dean

Daisy loved Oreo and only wanted her approval, yet Oreo despised her not so little sister, and they, unfortunately, got into a few very real fights. During one such fight in October of last year, she ended up with the same leg injury she had before in her other back leg. at the time my parents did not have the money for the surgery again and so we waited. The vet did a blood test and everything else was fine with her. At least, everything was fine until December.

Have you ever suddenly look at a pet or a person and realize how much they have aged? Oreo seemed to have aged within a month. She was fine and then all of a sudden she was ancient. Her spine and hips become visible for the first time in her life and she just looked so incredibly old.

Oreo, her hips and face showed her age now. Anna Dean

She got sick and stopped eating. Oreo had never refused food in her life. She also had was ended up being an upper respiratory infection that had spread to her eyes causing swelling and so much puss she couldn't keep her eyes open. We took her to the vet and I was expecting the worst, but she got medicine and got better. She still looked old but was more or less back to her old self. Until January came that is.

She started to sleep more, had trouble walking, and even lost 4 pounds! That seems like nothing, but for a small dog that was always on the heavier side, it meant a lot. For the better part of a week, she wouldn't eat and threw up everything she did manage to get down. She was getting sick again.

After the first week back at college, I came home and the first thing I noticed was Oreo's lip bleeding. It wouldn't stop so my parents scheduled a vet appointment for the next day. I was again, expecting the worst and after seeing her suffer the last few months I knew if it came down to it she would probably have to be put down. I still wasn't prepared though.

After two hours and multiple tests, we got the diagnosis. Oreo was diabetic, and probably had Cushing's disease, yet she was anemic and had a low red blood cell count. Things that normally don't go together were all wrong inside this little dog. Her diagnosis was contradictory and the vet had no explanation without hospitalization her and doing more tests. These devastating results had not shown up on the same blood test done just three months earlier.

Not on a 13-year-old dog. I knew if she was younger my parents would have spent the money to get her better. But she was too old and needed too much at this point. We took her home so my dad and brother could say goodbye. We made her comfortable until her appointment at 7:00 pm.

When we brought her back up there she seemed to accept her fate. She probably had no way of knowing what was to come, but she didn't walk around or bark at the other dogs as she would have usually. She just wasn't her self anymore and we all could see that.

OreoAnna Dean

That was the first time I cried for her. Everyone else had cried earlier at least once, but this was the first time for me. I think I was in denial, and I still feel like I am a little. Every time I've walked into the house since I get a little twinge of sadness because I expected to see her. Instead, it's just Daisy greeting me.

If you've never been in the room when a dog is put down, it's hard, but if you ever have to let a pet go, you should try and be with them so they know they are loved when their time ends.

They first sedate the dog to make it easier on them and they pass in their sleep. She didn't even need the sedation she was too weak and tired all she could do was lay there and drift in and out of sleep. After that fully sets in, they overdose them with anesthesia. I do not know about other dogs, but in Oreo's case, it was quick, within a matter of seconds. I think she was honestly ready.

Oreo sleeping, waiting for the vet.Anna Dean

When we got home I expected Daisy to react but I think since she's still a puppy she won't realize for a while. My parents, especially my mom feels very guilty. Oreo was old and euthanasia was the humane thing to do, she was suffering, and I know she doesn't resent us for it.

Losing a pet is always very hard. I am still coming to terms with the whole experience. I keep looking at pictures of her. She was my first puppy and I just can't believe she is gone. I know she's in a better place now, or at least she isn't suffering anymore. I am not religious by any means, but I really hope there is a heaven for dogs. I'm going to believe she's up there eating to her heart's content.

My favorite picture of herAnna Dean

I am thankful for the time I got with little Oreo Cookie and the lessons she helped me learn. She was a special little dog and will be deeply missed. I dread the next time I lose a dog. When you lose a pet, it is hard, but remember that they were a part of your family, take the appropriate time to mourn. They were more than just a pet, I know Oreo was.