Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and thoughts about Penny
Your posts on DU mean more to me than I can express in words.
Penny went over the rainbow bridge at around 11:30 am on Monday. My husband, daughter and I sobbed and petted her as she left us.
It's taken a couple of days to pull myself together to post this.
One lovely thing happened a short time before the vet arrived. It was gently snowing. Dave remembered how much Penny loved snow, rolling in it, jumping in it, eating it. He went outside and filled a soup bowl with snow. We held it up to her face, and her eyes lit up. She licked the bowl clean. He fetched a second bowlful, and she licked that up too. We were thrilled to give her this last treat, especially since she was refusing food and water.
After doing some research, I think Penny had degenerative myelopathy, the canine version of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It's genetic and there is no treatment or cure.
Here's a picture of her from September, 2023. She is wearing a flower headdress from a Ukrainian festival I'd gone to that day.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hang on to them. They will bring an unexpected smile when you most need one. 
We never get over our grief, we only move forward with it.
Allow yourself to grieve and don't forget your own self-care.
Ty for sharing that she crossed gently & I love that she enjoyed some snow beforehand.
I've been there, too, and it's so tough, they are such a big part of your life and always there. Just remember that she was so lucky to have found you... 
