Betsy Adventures

Born July 31, 2013

[bonnieadventures]

two different dogs 10 years apart

I didn’t stage this, just coincidence that we still own the same blanket and both dogs curled up on it.

First photo Betsy at age 3, in 2016

Second photo: Bonnnie at 3.5 months in 2026

I still miss Betsy every day ❤️

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Introducing Bonnie

You can follow her at https://bonnieadventures.tumblr.com since I wanted to keep this tumblr special for Betsy.

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Grief and new beginnings

A few nights ago I had a big cry about Betsy. It's been almost two months since she died.

It definitely gets easier with time but there are still moments where I think about her every day. Sometimes I cry a little, sometimes a lot, sometimes not at all.

In some ways I still can't believe she's gone.

We've decided to get a new puppy. The house is empty. There's a hole in my heart and in our home. We are meant for dogs. I'm scared. It'll be so much work. Old lady dog was insanely easy compared to high energy puppy. But hopefully we're up for it.

I'll write about this new dog too like I did with Betsy. I'll share here once she arrives, but I'll make a new tumblr/home to talk about her so this can primarily be Betsy's space, in memory of her.

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the final step

Picking up Betsy’s remains was hard and felt like ripping my heart open all over again. but she’s home now.

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Grief, 2 weeks in

It hurts.

I'm surprised though by how much it changes.

I often think of her. More than once a day. I am reminded of her around every corner of the house.

I don't cry nearly as much as in the beginning, but sometimes it still hits me.

I guess this is just how grief is.

Still so grateful she managed to live a full long life and that I didn't lose her early to anything.

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Betsy. July 31 2013-February 7 2026

Betsy died yesterday. She was my everything.

Although my updates here slowly faded over the years, it's one of the best records I have of her life and I'm so grateful that I started this tumblr.

Betsy, I'll love you forever.

[betsyadventures]

Now that I feel ready to say a little more (I'll probably do this a few times, but here's one about her death. Later I will talk about her life 🙂 ) Vet thinks it was likely degenerative myelopathy which is also what I was thinking when googling some of her early symptoms prior to the diagnosis.

It progressed fast. She went from occasionally having some issues on the stairs to being unable to stand long enough to relieve her bladder in ~6 months. On a similar timeline, her bark slowly transformed from a deep terrifying bark to a weaker and weaker sound until she eventually was completely hoarse.

The day we took her to the vet her legs had gotten so bad that we had to carry her from the car to the exam room. Just a week prior she could easily have handled a walk like that without falling over.

The end caught us off guard as she seemed her normal happy self, just a bit wobbly, until suddenly she wasn't. We thought maybe she just hurt herself and would bounce back but after a couple of days we realized there was no bouncing back. I honestly think she just decided one day that she was tired of the struggle and was ready to give up.

We made the call to euthanize because we could tell Betsy felt ready. Her change in behaviour in the final week told us she was ready. The way she looked at me the morning we took her in told me she was ready.

I felt nauseous that morning. On the drive to the vet we were going to "get her assessed, maybe do a radiograph" but I knew that there was a very high chance that we wouldn't be coming home with her. We were right. When the vet told us he didn't even need to do a radiograph to know this was not a visit with a happy ending, he cried.

She was always a dog who loved to run, jump, move. She hated being carried up and down the stairs whenever I offered to do it for her. Her quality of life was not what it needed to be. We have no regrets with our final decision. I always felt that I didn't want to keep a dog alive, suffering, just so that their humans didn't have to say goodbye. I think we found a good balance of a long happy life with minimal bad days and mostly good days.

[betsyadventures]

Alright. Let me talk now a bit about Betsy's life, because that's really what mattered, not her death.

It's hard to put everything about Betsy into words but I want to talk about her because she was so special to me and I want it written down.

The day we brought Betsy home, we plopped her into my lap in the car, we started to drive away from the only home she had ever known at that point, and she let out a tremulous little puppy howl. My heart shattered into a million pieces and I felt an overwhelming love for her wash over me that solidified her instantly as my heart dog from that moment on.

On that drive she vomited on my lap. We pulled over at a gas station on the side of the highway to clean things up and she slipped her ill-fitted collar and began to toodle away from us. Panicked, we chased after her, desperately grabbing for her, complete newbies as to how to handle such a tiny little puppy trying to go off on a little adventure to find her family.

When we got home and she tumbled out of the car and onto our front lawn we took some photos, and the first ever post on this tumblr was born.

In those early pre-kid days Betsy was my world. She came with us everywhere. Our lives revolved around her. She was so full of joy and life, so eager to please, happy to join me on adventures in agility, nose work, whatever dog sport hobby I wanted to try, she jumped in with enthusiasm and excelled. As a kid I read a lot of "boy and his dog" type books. I had always dreamed of having a dog that was like the dogs in those books: Devoted, smart, a perfect companion. She fulfilled all my childhood dreams. She was perfect.

She loved to hike, she loved the beach, she loved to play with her doggie friends. Once when out on just a boring old walk around the neighbourhood, someone stopped me and said "I've never seen a dog prance with so much joy in her step as your dog does when out on a walk."

She made us laugh with her silly little antics, once climbing into a large open amazon box of her own volition and laying down in it with her head hanging out, just chilling there. Or hiding in the window curtains, peeking out at us with her tail slowly wagging, fully aware that she was being a little bit goofy.

She was the ring bearer in our wedding, she came with us on our honeymoon, and when I got pregnant for the first time, our pregnancy announcement photo included her.

She was there for the purchase of our first family home... and our second, forever home.

When we threw a few babies into the mix and her lifestyle drastically changed from an extremely spoiled only-dog to a dog with two demanding young human children in the house and an overwhelmed owner who couldn't provide the same amount of attention as she once could, Betsy adjusted like a champ. She was wonderful with the girls as they grew older, always happy for a pet or a cuddle, viewing them as beloved members of her pack. My youngest especially bonded with her, and I have so many memories of the two of them sitting together in quiet companionship.

Betsy loved unconditionally. She was always there, always happy just to be with you, to cuddle, to play, to be whatever kind of companion you needed in that moment. And she loved me as much as I loved her.

Whenever I was home she would seek me out wherever I was in the house and lean her body up against me.  When I sat on the floor she'd come over, bury her face in my lap, and collapse her body onto the ground with her head still buried - an act of complete trust- and settle in there while I rubbed her ears and neck.

At the vet when we said goodbye, she buried her face in my lap one last time and I held her there until her heart stopped. She died in the exact same examination room that we took her in at 9 weeks old for her first-ever checkup. The checkup where the vet held her up and said to me "I can tell she is going to be an absolute sweetheart, you made a good choice."  Today, it was a different vet helping us say goodbye, and as he gave us the news that euthanasia was the best option, he cried right along with us.

She was special. She was everything. Our lives will never be the same, and I'm so grateful to have known her and to have loved her.

I wanted to share some other key moments and top photos on this tumblr.

When she won a calendar photo contest and was featured in our local pet store's calendar.

My most re-blogged post ever

Betsy showing off how much she loved doing tricks

Some of my favourite photos of her:

Misty Hike

With her toy

her beautiful face

kisses in bed

climbing a tree

Loving eyes

Waiting to play

Early puppy years

Lapdog

...and probably so many more. God she was the best.

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In 2024 and 2025, Betsy's final two years with us, I never posted any photos of her on this tumblr. I don't know why. Life just got busy and the photos I was taking weren't as high quality as they used to be. Plus my kids were often in them and I didn't want my kids online.

Here's a dump of the last two years. Daughter's face masked since I don't want to blast my kids all over the internet to strangers, but they're nice photos and show how much my daughter loves her 🙂 she was always wanting photos with Betsy.

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Betsy. July 31 2013-February 7 2026

Betsy died yesterday. She was my everything.

Although my updates here slowly faded over the years, it's one of the best records I have of her life and I'm so grateful that I started this tumblr.

Betsy, I'll love you forever.

[betsyadventures]

Now that I feel ready to say a little more (I'll probably do this a few times, but here's one about her death. Later I will talk about her life 🙂 ) Vet thinks it was likely degenerative myelopathy which is also what I was thinking when googling some of her early symptoms prior to the diagnosis.

It progressed fast. She went from occasionally having some issues on the stairs to being unable to stand long enough to relieve her bladder in ~6 months. On a similar timeline, her bark slowly transformed from a deep terrifying bark to a weaker and weaker sound until she eventually was completely hoarse.

The day we took her to the vet her legs had gotten so bad that we had to carry her from the car to the exam room. Just a week prior she could easily have handled a walk like that without falling over.

The end caught us off guard as she seemed her normal happy self, just a bit wobbly, until suddenly she wasn't. We thought maybe she just hurt herself and would bounce back but after a couple of days we realized there was no bouncing back. I honestly think she just decided one day that she was tired of the struggle and was ready to give up.

We made the call to euthanize because we could tell Betsy felt ready. Her change in behaviour in the final week told us she was ready. The way she looked at me the morning we took her in told me she was ready.

I felt nauseous that morning. On the drive to the vet we were going to "get her assessed, maybe do a radiograph" but I knew that there was a very high chance that we wouldn't be coming home with her. We were right. When the vet told us he didn't even need to do a radiograph to know this was not a visit with a happy ending, he cried.

She was always a dog who loved to run, jump, move. She hated being carried up and down the stairs whenever I offered to do it for her. Her quality of life was not what it needed to be. We have no regrets with our final decision. I always felt that I didn't want to keep a dog alive, suffering, just so that their humans didn't have to say goodbye. I think we found a good balance of a long happy life with minimal bad days and mostly good days.

[betsyadventures]

Betsy. July 31 2013-February 7 2026

Betsy died yesterday. She was my everything.

Although my updates here slowly faded over the years, it's one of the best records I have of her life and I'm so grateful that I started this tumblr.

Betsy, I'll love you forever.

[betsyadventures]

A fun fact about Betsy is that when she notices people brushing their teeth and getting ready for bed she gets up off her dog bed in the living room and quietly wanders downstairs into my office to hop up onto the couch there where she sleeps at night, essentially “putting herself to bed” and it warms my heart every time because she’s so cute and dogs are awesome.

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When Betsy was young I had a hard time getting her to stay engaged with tug games. Then I took a Fenzi course with Shade and was told to let Betsy win more and push her body into me during tug. Game changer. As long as I back off and don’t lay on too much body pressure and instead mostly fall back/let her come to me, she loves to tug.

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My pretty girl

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Note to self: stop clicking so damn much when she gets it right.

First training session with this box.

Goal: get her in the box

Outcome: 15 seconds. Probably need to try something harder.

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Betsy is 10 and a half.

This is our first time with an #outwardhound food puzzle. When I brought it home and showed it to Betsy she nosed it, whined in frustration, and stared at me and refused to move, expecting me to solve it for her.

So I went to make dinner and within a minute of being left alone with the puzzle, she figured it all out. This video is her second try at it, about 10 minutes after her first try.

I’ll have to try a harder puzzle next time!!!

#dogsofinstagram #dogs

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Betsy and her stuffed rottie

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Late night boredom face + random children’s toys mixed with dog toys.

Rest of the family is in bed and we’re just chilling together.

[betsyadventures]

One of the first things I taught Betsy as a puppy was to lie down on the kitchen floor whenever I’m in there preparing food, as a way of preventing counter surfing and begging. It continues to work well to this day… but now with my kids!