Our hearts were broken yesterday as we had to make the difficult decision to have our 14-year-old beagle Billy put to sleep. He was my husband’s dog first and lived his first few years at Virginia Tech. We’ve often joked that he graduated college. After Tim and I married in 2003, Billy became mine, too. And last year, he became Sydney’s.
Once she realized the dogs weren’t just oversized stuffed animals that could walk and bark, she fell in love with Billy. He was so good with her. Sure, he’d let her know if she was tugging on his ears too hard, but he was never aggressive. I don’t think he ever had an aggressive bone in his body.
Sydney liked to pet him, give him treats, put sunglasses or hats on his head and play with his feet. His vivacious howls made her crack up with laughter. “Bill” was one of her first words after “Mama” and “Dada.” And after she began walking, she wanted to hold his leash when we walked down the street. Every morning when she wakes up, she points toward our bedroom and says his name, wanting to see him. We’ll now have to tell her that Billy’s in heaven, a concept she won’t understand yet, but hopefully will one day.
In his final days, it almost seemed like she knew what was coming. With no cue from us, she’d walk over to where he was laying, crouch down, and give him big hugs and kisses. My sweet girl has such a big heart filled with love already. It makes me even more proud to call her mine.
It hurts my heart that she won’t remember her best buddy, Billy. But thankfully we have plenty of pictures to show her when she’s older.
