Last of the Litter
"GOOD
BYE BILLY"
His full name was William Wallace Warbritton, but we called him Billy. He was the last
of three born in the litter. Billy and Susie had to be delivered by Cesarean Section because the first puppy was too large, stillborn, and blocked the birth canal. Billy was not
always the smartest of our brood, but he was always a strong, healthy, athletic
specimen of the yorkie tribe. His most enduring quality was his shy, quiet, devout loyalty
to his human caregivers and to his immediate canine family.
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| Sweet Billy |
Cheryl couldn’t
bear to break up the family so we kept all four. His mother Cara
(Carolina Tiger Lily) the first of our yorkies, was born October 10, 1994 and was purchased for
Angela just after we married 22 years ago.
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| Angela with puppy Carolina Tiger Lily (Cara) |
Angela started
college in 1998, so Cara remained with Cheryl and I. Within a few years, Angela bought
herself another yorkie, Starlet, aka “Star Baby”, "Little Princess" and “Little Girl”.
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| Starlet in her fur coat at Christmas 2002 |
Then, under the
oddest of circumstances we were offered a male puppy yorkie from Texas when Cara was
eight years old. We called him Cowboy since he was from Texas, and when we first got him he was so anxious he chewed on the kitchen table, chair rails and baseboards. However, there was a moment of eye to eye love and trust connection, and after that he was the best dog anyone could ever want. He also
envisioned himself as a “stud muffin” to Cara even though he was only ten months old.
We usually kept them under close supervision but Cheryl wasn’t concerned
because Cara was eight years old and thought past puppy bearing. Actually, Cowboy was physically full-grown and knew exactly what he was supposed to do; and he did it. On Thanksgiving night while they were outside the magic happened and on January 19th, 2003 the puppies were born. Cowboy was a
year old and Cara was eight and a half. Of note, Cara did not like Cowboy until that night of magic and after that she LOVED Cowboy; also, we were concerned that he might not like the puppies, but he proved to be a really good daddy dog.
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| Cara loved Cowboy |
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| Cowboy loved Cara |
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| Momma with her newborns 9 days old |
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| Daddy checking on the pups - one month old. |
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| Twins need a little space between them |
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| Billy slept like this most of his life |
We moved to a home in the county with no fence and we had to walk all
four dogs on leases. Shortly after, Angela brought “Star” to live wih us “for a little while” until she got settled in Florida. We still have her and she is the sole survivor. For a time we had to walk five dogs twice a day.
Within a couple of years, sweet little Cara died in Cheryl’s arms, at
the age of eleven, as we sped to the closest emergency vet. The following day my
son David was there and he helped me dig the grave as we buried her in a
clearing of the trees in the back yard. We conducted a very heartfelt goodbye
and a poignant farewell. Cheryl and I couldn’t talk as tears streamed down our
faces. Cheryl remembers seeing her tears shining in the bright sunlight as they
fell. It was good that we had a Baptist preacher there to take over and
speak a beautiful farewell to the queen of our little brood.
The four little dogs left were a constant
source of entertainment when Cheryl took them for a walk. Holding two leashes in
each hand, she was OK until one of them spotted another dog, a child, a bike, or a deer
and then all mayhem broke out. I watched one morning as all four of them
started running in circles and barking vigorously. Cheryl was in the middle and
she was soon totally enveloped in leases. She almost fell over as they reached
the end of their leashes and continued jumping, barking and nipping at her ankles. She called me to
help because she was wrapped up tight and couldn’t move. I was laughing so hard
I couldn’t undo the wrap job for a couple of minutes. Cheryl was not amused at
the time. Billy never started the barking but he always picked up the rally and
took it to a new high pitch.
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| Two in one hand and three in the other |
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And then the leashes get tangled
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| A little help is always appreciated |
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| Rain, sleet, or snow they had to be walked |
When I walked them in the afternoons they would always want to stop at
the corner of the yard under the shade of a large willow oak. Cowboy and Susie
would watch intently for pedestrians or cars driving by. Star and Billy would
wander aimlessly and act as if they were extraordinarily bored. One morning as
I was walking them, Billy committed a costly error. He slipped out of the harness
and before I could grab him he ran for the neighbors yard. Now the next door
neighbor had two large dogs (an Australian Shepherd and an Akia) contained with
an invisible fence. Billy of course thought he could outrun the other dogs and
ran straight for them, unheeded by the electric fence because he had no collar.
The Australian Shepherd must have thought that he was a large rat and he
quickly ran him down. He grabbed Billy around the middle and tossed him ten
feet into the air. I was sure that he had killed him because I watched him do a
flip in the air on his way down. But Billy landed on his feet and immediately
scampered out of the yard back to where I was waiting and calling for him. I
couldn’t chase after him because I was holding the other three leashes. He came
up to me with eyes as large as saucers and I checked him over. Fortunately he
just had a minor tooth mark on his chest, but he learned a life lesson.
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| Billy shortly after his encounter with the neighbors dogs |
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| Cowboy and Susie perched on Cowboy hill |
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| King of the hill |
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| Little Girl and Susie on Cowboy hill |
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Billy's attackers waiting for one of ours to stray into their yard.
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We moved back to the city and we didn’t have to walk them because we had
a fence. Within a year we lost Cowboy at age eleven, and again, as Cheryl
held him in her arms. We buried him in the yard by the back fence. I dug the
grave for Cowboy and we stood and grieved but we could not bear to say goodbye to that sweet, special boy; I just hope he knew how much we loved him. Within a couple
of years Cheryl held Susie into the wee hours of the morning as she died in the
arms of love. I dug her grave next to Cowboy’s and we again attempted to show
our respects; we failed again though we both managed to tell her how much she
was loved. We now have a pet cemetery in our back
yard.
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| Susie2Cutie |
Life with Billy and Star has had its challenges as these two older
dogs started having health problems. I looked into Billy’s sorrowful eyes and I could see
the great loss for his twin Susie. Billy became highly sensitive to any situation and
he quickly jumped at any opportunity to receive affection from either of us.
For the past two years we have waited to see which would outlive the other.
Throughout the past winter we watched as both dogs' health deteriorated and then
this spring it became apparent that Billy would be next in line. He started
having mini-seizures causing him to lose control of all four legs at once,
though he would quickly recover when we picked him up and loved on him.
Finally, on Friday evening before Mothers Day, Cheryl held him until just after
midnight and then put him in his bed. The next morning we found him on the
kitchen floor near his bed. Peaceful and free from the pain and discomfort he
had been suffering.
His interment was perhaps the most difficult of all physically as I am suffering
from low back and hip pain and Cheryl had to help me dig the grave. We were both
exhausted by the time we finished digging his spot next to Susie in the back
yard. We held a brief ceremony to honor our little friend and assured him that
we had always loved him, though we again became emotional. Billy was sensitive, quirky, and demanding of your constant attention, but totally worth it.
We like to think that we were privileged to have loved and cared for
these five little scamps. They made us laugh; they made us cry; they have been a
constant source of distraction. Onery and cantankerous as they were, we cared
for each in their own special way. We watched each of them as they grew and become totally loyal to us; then slowly aging and losing that spark that made them unique, and then it claimed their lives. We were favored to share their time on this earth, and we hope that God has made a way for those little dogs to share
our time in Heaven.
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