For some of you who have met ‘Brownie’ on our peony farm, she was always smiling! Her pain over the past few years did not affect her smile even to the end. It is with a very sad heart that we had to put her down on Tuesday and only today could I begin to share this moment with you. I never like to see any family member suffer so we had to make the choice based on the rest of her physical aliments preventing a pain free life. About a year and a half ago, a lump the size of a tennis ball continued to grow on her left hind leg. Upon its removal, the vet said it was very suspicious. With other lumps developing since then, arthritis, hip disorder, losing weight and trouble breathing, she still continued to smile and wanted her tummy rubbed. She will be dearly missed as she was our first dog on the peony farm in 2008. We to this day do not know how old she was. We rescued her from a facility in Buffalo, MN and they estimated her age at 3 to 5 years old. Upon finding out from the rescue facility that they found her abandoned along side a freeway in Bloomington, MN with signs of puppies, they thought that the previous owner kept the puppies and then dropped her off on the highway. After hearing that, she stole our hearts. We’ll never forget the ‘trips’ Brownie and Redd took while getting acclimated to our farm. Just a few to share like the time a neighbor a few miles away brought her back in their car, numerous trips to a turkey processing facility 2 miles away and the most memorable one was Becky receiving a call from a drunk guy who said he had our dogs locked in the women’s bathroom at the Howard Lake beach some 2 1/2 miles away because they were taking sandals from all the sun bathers. Becky then instructed me to call him back vs thinking she was being stalked. So off to the Howard Lake beach and here comes a guy with a beer in hand, stumbling over to the car. (I can do his impression better in person!) Sure enough here comes Brownie and Redd out of the women’s restroom at the beach. He wouldn’t take any money and I was surely not going to buy him a beer. Brownie, we are lost without you right now but know you are not in pain anymore. Thank you for touching our family and anybody that has met you. We will miss you dearly ‘sweet brown’!
