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MI - 2015

I have always had dogs since I was 7...  We acquired them either from the Humane Society (Brandy), the Dog Pond/Rescue (Hannah), one puppy tied to a short leash at a house adjacent to one I was remodeling for a customer (Tobie), along with others found on the street as well. All incredible and sweet. Unfortunately, they all had passed on by the time my two boys had turned 4 or 5. Having had 

cats before and my ex-wife not liking animals we decided to bring home 2 cats from the Humane Society. After a couple of years, her daughter decided to take them up to school with her. With my kids turning 6 and 8 I wanted dogs again. All boys should have dogs I thought. My ex-wife did not want shedding dogs (if she was to have any), found a family that had puppies for sale.  We went to their home and down to the basement where we picked out Misa.
A couple of months, I found a family that was making and selling raw dog food in Canada who had a couple of Portuguese Water dogs for sale that nobody wanted cause they were the runts of the litter. Having always had two dogs, the desire to find a "sibling" for Misa became overwhelming!  Obviously Paulie, had been bullied by the bigger dogs and was very timid.  But she was also super-sweet and beautiful, and she was my obvious choice. Still to this day she eats with her back to the wall. Even though she had been checked out before we got her, she had a little heart murmur. But has always been very active and healthy, living with the murmur until March 24th of this year when her heart started to fail. It only took a day for her belly to fill up and her system to shut down. Praise the Lord that I was home and noticed her color, belly and health and rushed her to emergency where they  extracted about a half a gallon or more of fluid out of her 50 pound body and IV. 
The next morning I took her to our Vet, who is incredible and they put her on medications immediately.  They ran tests and within a week was back to herself again, yes slower and not as strong.  She can still jump up on the couches and in the car and be the darling that everyone falls in love with instantly. Both the girls are trained as Therapy dogs and Service Dogs for over 6 years. They have gone in Adult care facilities, Senior living apartments, Hockey Tournaments and practices watching my kids play, hanging out in the dressing rooms, (and you think dogs stink?) in many cities and States and Hotels in Canada as well.  Paulie and her sister Misa are also off leash trained, meaning they can go on main streets with other dogs and not go in the street and be well behaved as well. 
Unfortunately, my health has not been good for a couple of years resulting in my needing to have several surgeries.  This has reduced our income to only my wife's, which is tough.  With my wife (just married a year ago) and Paulie and Misa I am sure I will get better soon. So I have not taken them anywhere to visit except to Saturday Sabbath religious services where they (again off leash) would sit in the pews next to me for the whole service.  Hopefully once I am able to be pain free mobile again, they will bee able to go more places with me to spread their love around to kids, the elderly, and the hospitalized. Paulie is truly a Pollyanna from the original book in 1913 and Disney movie in 1960. And Misa is a Gandhi, always getting in between conflicts between people or dogs. So on the days when my pain is pretty bad, Paulie and Misa are right there by my side. A special thank you to the Brown Dog Foundation. God Bless. 
Marv, Paulie and Misa       
Updated 11/6/2015 by Marv
Unfortunately I have very sad news: Miss Paulie passed away this morning at 2:20. She was 13. Misa and I were with her at the vet, In a room just Misa, Paulie and me. I got to give her oxygen, which at times she didn't think she needed. I got to give it to her for about 4 hours. Her sweet heart gave out. She was appreciative and sweet to the last breath and if you knew Paulie, she was a real Pollyanna. If you hung out with her and you got in touch with her rhythm of time and space along with her silly playfulness you could get in touch with a dog at spiritual peace. She was extremely possessive over me sometimes to a fault but Misa understood that and would let Paulie know she wanted the same love and attention. Being outside with her was always a treat. The girls being off leash trained made things easy on main streets and on walks and parks. She loved to swim and always thought she could out swim a duck. Nope. Paulie loved to go outside rain or snow, she would just walk at the same pace and go everywhere, stop and sit down and just observe nature, the beingness of life. When she saw you she would give you a paw or just roll over for a belly rub and wait. Don't know she ever was denied. She loved kids but people were attracted to her. She loved car rides and thought she could drive. Always ending in the front seats, drives seat was her preferred destination. She healed herself from a torn ACL and never limped after. Both girls are on raw diet and as life as gone on, mildly cooked raw meat feed and typical junk food. When Garrett and Ellis were younger Paulie and Misa went most of their ice and inline hockey practices and games and visited their locker rooms. They went to all their tournament games, here or in Canada or out of State. They were allowed into almost all the rinks which people hadn't seen before. Managers even got into arguments about if they could be in the rink. They skated with their paws before a ice game at the Detroit skate club. When a certain ref would be there, he always asked if the girls were there They sat up in the stands and watched their brothers play. They came to my hockey games, locker room and to the bar after. They were invited into homes, restaurants and bars by the owners. Walking in Birmingham was special with the parks and restaurants. The woods at the JCC was also a wonderful walk, hot or cold no problem .  They loved hotels (They didn't have to make their beds). When they were younger they loved to sleep and spend time in their brothers beds. When I groomed them and washed them when they were a little younger, Misa always thought Paulie was so pretty she couldn't keep her hands off her and I think Paulie liked it. Paulie was born with a strong irregular heart beat and I could never figure out how she danced with that. I was told many times that she was a spirit energy dog. But truly a Pollyana. Misa and her were always around each other. They played and waited for each other. Paulie was a delicate eater but loved to eat. They don't eat like dogs but people would say they get feed like dogs either. Her coat and hair( yes not fur) glimmered to her last breath. She died naturally and peacefully with me holding and loving her. My little baby gave me the most joy, love, fun and silliness I could ever imagine.