Dearest Penny,

Dear Penny,
I'm sorry that I can't be with you to say good-bye. You probably don't even really remember me right now, its been about 2 years since you last saw me. I did however, want to write you a letter and mom said she would read it to you before you pass.
I remember the first time I saw you. We drove a few hours to check out these cute little pure-breed Red English Cocker Spaniels. You came into the room and proceeded to find you way into my lap and fall asleep. I was in love. We'd never had a dog before, and you were the cutest little thing. Your ears were a few sizes too big, but they just matched the size of you heart. We took you home, and you were so happy to finally have a home. We were told you were a boy, but it could of gotten lost in translation between the old German lady and her 6 year old interpreter, but we even learned that we got boy papers for you. Unfortunately, it even confused you because the first time we took you out to go potty at home, you lifted you leg, then looked back at us because it seemed to unnatural. Its ok, our neighbor was a Vet and finally set us straight.
When you were little, you used to trip over your ears all the time, it was so cute! You loved to run around outside and chase us all over the place. Not even a chain link fence could stand in you way.. actually it did, but you just went around instead of trying again to go through it, which didn't work in the first place, hahaha.
We used to tease you mercilessly. Whenever it snowed we would hid doggy treats out in the snow and laugh as you would pull out your superest sniffer to find them. I never did understand it, but you would always get these icy balls of snow stuck to your big ears. They would remind me of burrs. It was so cute! I remember the first time it snowed enough to actually play in, you thought you were a frog and would hop around in the snow. It was so cute to watch!
You were such a happy puppy, and so dang cute! You have the most gorgeous coat of fur, and you had really long eye lashes. Even with you good looks, you were a mischievous little devil. You used to climb up on the table and eat all the bacon i just cooked. Or the chocolate chocolate chip cookies i just backed. You even got into the box of milk on the floor. Of course, back then you had an iron stomach. We even once found a little baby doll hand sticking up out of your business in the yard. Its ok i forgave you, for that one. You used to eat my underwear and sometime my clothes if i had food on them and didn't get them into the wash quick enough.

Some of the things I will always remember about you:
-Your big ears
- the way you would always try and ride shot gun, as if
- sometime you would go temporarily insane and just start running around the house for no reason
- You loved rice and tuna.
- When mom gave you away to "teach us a lesson" all the neighborhood kids hated her, and loved her when you came back!
-You were a "Bad Dog" jail bird for Halloween, every year
- You would always shake SSSSOOO badly if you saw a squirrel.
- we used to tease you with a fake squirrel
- you loved playing hide-and-seek with us, you were the best seeker!
- you chewed through every ball imaginable except a raquetball, Penn brand, of course
- You never slept in any of us kids room, you always had to be near your momma
- you loved dark corners, and we'd always find you laying there
- in Darmstadt, you used to sleep on the stairs so you could see out the little side window and wait for us to get home!


there are many more, but i can't list them all. I'm so sad that I won't be there to tell you goodbye, but i know that you are sick and that its easier to let you go now than to watch you suffer any longer. You were always my favorite pet, yes I loved you even more than the tadpoles we used to catch, or Figaro the frog that lived in our yard in Utah and peed on Bryan. You were and are and always will be the best puppy in the world. Have fun in heaven, tell Toby we said hi (the dog), and chase some squirrel, just remember not to bark tooo loud. You're loved! I'm just sorry that I can't be there with you. You have given me so much happiness. I love you, Penny dog, Penelope, Cylla from the Poppy Valley, dirty dog, chicken butt, chicken legs, you crazy pooch.
Samm