Eddie was our beloved little terrier mix. Famous for his Mohawk and impish disposition, he made everyone smile and the local kids loved him to death. He was rescued from the streets of Tijuana back in 2006 where he was battered and starving. The good folks at Baja Animal Sanctuary scooped him up, nursed him to health and brought him up to San Diego to put him up for adoption. Pamela was volunteering for BAS at the time and was working one of the adoption corrals outside of PetSmart. After showing him to some perspective families looking to adopt who didn’t work out, PJ found herself carrying him around and being hesitant to put him out there. She became attached and in the end, brought him home to join the two other Baja rescue dogs already in her pack.

Eddie had a wonderful ten years in Carlsbad. Spoiled, smothered with caring attention and walked every day rain or shine. He had Cali and Koda to show him the ropes and stand up for him when bigger dogs would raise a bark. Inquisitive and smart, he excelled at chasing lizards. His mop of hair, goatee and trademark skipping gait made him a favorite in the neighborhood.

He loved to ride in the basket on the bike or in the front seat in the car, always one for an adventure. The lagoon was his domain and dog beach his favorite hang-out. I’m sure all the people whose beach towels he peed on will be missing him fiercely. Eddie had a good run, living  to 16 or 17 years of age according to the estimates made by the vets when he was rescued.

We knew the day was coming, but in our minds we kept denying the reality in front of us and continued to delay making the hard decisions that were going to be inevitable to make. Edward’s condition had been continually deteriorating for the past year. The vet put him on a heavy combination of drugs back in January that seemed to help with his chronic coughing and difficulty getting a breath. A few months later, it wasn’t working anymore so we doubled the dosage. Bronchodilators, prednisone, Xanax and Vicodin. If he wasn’t stoned to the bone, he was suffering from side effects from the steroids. He was either permanently stoned or coughing non-stop, his little chest heaving from the effort to get some air. He was especially struggling on our trip up to Julian with the heat and elevation change. We brought him back down to the vet in Encinitas on Thursday. We were still hesitant and struggling to make the right decision for the little guy. The vet that saw him was the same woman who had started him on the drug regimen earlier. We had a lot of confidence in her and she is a very compassionate vet. She had been listening to him from the outer office since we brought him in. We didn’t have to ask, she apologized and said that she really believed it was time to ease his suffering. She told us that with the collapsing trachea this was the point at which there was no more help or remedy to be tried. It was helpful that she pretty much made the decision for us because we were unable to make the call ourselves even though we knew it was the right thing to do. Eddie you were deeply loved and you will be sorely missed. Our little pack will be missing your sparkling eyes and the little skip in your step. Rest in peace little buddy.

Eddie, Edward, AKA the Word  –  Born sometime around ~2000 –  died 7/28/2016