Jessica – my little black cocker girl – RIP 11th December 2008-12-12 Jess, Jessie, Jessla-Wessla and Jessica – all names my little girl would respond to. My special name and just between the two us was ‘Jetchee’. She came into my life over 10 years ago when my daughter brought her to me and said she was my dog. That night, when I switched off the lights to go to bed, she looked at me from her spot in the living room as if to say ‘where do you want me to sleep’. And I looked at this lovely little black dog and took her into my bedroom and put her on a V shaped pillow at the foot of my bed. And that’s where she slept till the day she died. Always a the foot of my bed and just a glance away from me. Every night I would kiss her on the forehead and say ‘God Bless and Good Night Jetchee, see you in the morning’. I knew the time was coming for her to leave me when she got really sick. After months of wearing a nappy pinned to a vest, her kidneys failed. She was put on a drip for 3 days to flush out the toxins. She appeared recovered but weak. And had lost over 3 kgs in weight. A huge amount of weight for a little dog weighing only 10 kgs. Her frame was all skin and bones, she started refusing food and also water. I had to give her both via syringe. The 3 days before she died, her back legs went. She must have been in considerable pain. But always happy to see me and even sat up and wagged her tail on occasion. The night before she went, she would not sleep and was on my chest for most of time always looking up at me. I wondered why she was not sleeping, but dismissed it as she slept during the day a lot. Now I know why, she knew she was going to die soon and did not want to let me out of her sight. She would whimper if I went out of the room if she could not see me. I said ‘bye’ to her when I left for work that morning, but my son called me around mid day to say she was not doing so good. My daughter was weeping as she had her in her arms and she was having a seizure. I heard Jess cry out when I was speaking to Rob on the phone, she was wanting to ‘release’ as she was never happy when soiled. When I got home, she knew I had come she was in a bad way, I rushed her into the car wrapped in a towel and she went into another seizure and when she relaxed she released herself onto my skirt. Her breathing was soft and her heart was beating slowly. Ten minutes in the car to the vet seemed like a life time. When I saw my vet, I asked her to put Jess to sleep. She was having another seizure and this was the 3rd one in 20 minutes. I looked down on my little girl as her heart stopped beating and I was told she had gone. I cradled her lifeless body for a long time and thanked her for being my dog and giving me all her devotion and love. Saying that final Goodbye was the hardest thing and leaving her there was even harder. She will be cremated and returned in a rosewood casket to us before Christmas. I will place her casket on her V pillow at the foot of my bed, she will sleep there as long as I do. I know she is still with me and I will never forget her. My Darling Dog Jess.