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This is Pooh’s story. Our First Pomeranian. Our foundation. His legacy.
Pooh, named after Winnie the Pooh, was born August 1st, 2006. I first laid eyes on him in a pet shop in the town where I lived. We had always had big dogs, but were looking for a sweet, little house dog. The dog was to be for my wife, as I was on the road a lot as a truck driver. We walked into the pet shop and my wife immediately went over to the shitzu puppy. I wandered around and made my way over to meet this little puppy my wife was interested in. As I got there, I noticed the super cute shitzu but was distracted by little yippy barks. I looked over and there was this adorable Pomeranian puppy. He was barking away and pawing at me through the cage. I stuck my fingers in to say hi and he started licking them, just ecstatic to have my attention. My wife then brought my attention away from the Pomeranian puppy to point out the shitzu puppy. I started to move away and the Pomeranian puppy went nuts! Awwwww…I thought. He’s sooooo cute!. I knew then and there is was the one, I fell completely in love! But my wife was still interested in the shitzu. We went home that night to discuss which puppy but I just knew I had to have the pom pup! A very short conversation later, it was decided- he was ours! So we went back the next day and he came home with us. Years later, we no longer support pet shops, but like most first time pet store owners, we were oblivious to what went on behind closed doors and that most pet stores support puppy mills.
Pooh took right to me. He was supposed to be my wife’s dog, but he chose me. I’d come home from work and there he would be waiting for me, tail going a mile a minute, barking his little happy puppy barks as he danced around me waiting for his share of attention. There is nothing that warmed my heart than the love of Pooh.
Fast forward a few years. My family and I were so in love with pooh, we decided to get a papered female. In 2011, my daughters got my wife a surprise Pomeranian puppy for Christmas. In the joy of the season we named her Noel. In 2012, Noel had her first litter of puppies, a creamy white later named Tulip, a black and tan later named Sophie, a creamy white male later named Milo Humphrey, and a red sable parti later named Roxy. Pooh was an amazing father! He was always gentle and loving towards his babies, and when Noel went into labor in the middle of the night, Pooh was right there to wake me up and let me know. To our joy, these beautiful babies and their parents became the foundation to our program!
Pooh went on to sire many beautiful babies in our program. His (unknown) last litter with us, we kept his beautiful daughter Honey, who is now a dam here at Heavenly Poms of Northern Michigan. Six days later, our beloved Pooh passed away.
The day we were to scheduled to leave for vacation, I noticed Pooh was not acting the same. He wasn’t eating a lot and was throwing up and had loose stool. We decided to take him with us on vacation and when we returned 2 days later, he still was not doing well. We went into the vets and did different tests and blood work to no avail. Finally we had to take him to a specialist. Through them we found that Pooh had a hernia that was missed. It sucked up a piece of his intestine and cut it off. Everything he ate or drink had no choice but to go right back out the same way. We did emergency surgery in hope it would work. Our vet was uncertain because they had to cut out the bad part of the intestine and then sew the 2 ends back together. Because of it being pinched off, each end was a different size. This brought the risks of it leaking, ripping apart, or just dying. All of which would cause severe infection. Pooh seemed to do well for a few days. Then we noticed signs of infection. We were going in almost daily for this or that antibiotic. We were lovingly hand feeding him baby food and water, keeping him clean and giving him his medications. Pooh just refused to give up. No matter how tired or sick he was, when he saw me, he struggled to get to his feet and would wag his tail just for me. Everyone said my boy was hanging on just for me. Finally, our vet said we could go back in and try to clean up the infection.
That morning, as I looked at my poor boy, I could see that he was ready. He looked into my eyes and I could see he was tired. It was his time. He seemed to be asking me to let him go. He gently licked my fingers as the tears fell. I just knew. I took him in for one last desperate attempt to save his life.
A couple hours later, I got the dreaded phone call. Pooh’s stomach was full of infection, his intestines were leaking. The vet offered to resew and clean up the infection and try again. This was going to be the hardest decision of my life. I desperately wanted to say yes. I wanted to beg him to save my dogs life. But I remembered this morning, Pooh’s plea. And so, on May 26th, 2015, my Pooh was laid to rest.
It was so important to share with you Pooh’s story. Without Pooh’s story, you would not be reading this right now. Without Pooh’s story, we would not be bringing the joy only a Pomeranian can bring into the lives of other families. He was the reason my family fell in love with the Pomeranian breed. He is the reason we started our program.
His Spirit lives on, guiding us, reminding us every day how the love for one amazing dog has impacted us and brought so much joy and love to so many families. And through God’s amazing grace we have his daughter, Heavenly Poms Pooh Bear’s Pot Full of Honey. And through her, his legacy continues.