TRIBUTES: Gibney- November 15, 2005

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Gibney lost her fight...



On January 10th, 2003, Gibney crossed the street at the LA Boxer Rescue and chose us...begging for some attention she said, "Hi, it's me...I'm Gibney...can I come home with you, please?". Well, our lives would never be the same. We took her home, fed her, loved her, gave her a comfy bed to sleep on, and treats whenever she wanted them. She made us laugh with her antics, her crooked bubble lip, missing fang, her running, jumping, snoring, half-up/half-down, giving a paw, goofing around. ..but she didn't chew or bark and she went to the door when she needed to go outside. She truly was the perfect dog.

One morning in February 2005, Gibney woke up in the middle of the night. She seemed to be having some pain and was unable to walk. We found out that she had Degenerative Myopothy - a disease of the nervous system that slowly takes away the signals from her brain to her legs. Typically, the disease progression is 4-6 months. Our girl made it through 8 months... she tried so hard. We got her acupuncture and put her on an organic diet. But, slowly, we watched her go from just dragging one foot, to dragging both a little bit, to the point where she could not get up and walk at all. The spark in her eyes that was there through all the pain finally went away and we knew she was telling us, "Momma, Pops, I'm tired...I just want to go to sleeps where I can run and play again." This morning at 11:45, she finally did go and we were right there with her, holding her, on her favorite bed, in our home... she went knowing that she was loved, incredibly loved - every day.

For those of you that had the chance to meet her, you know what an amazing dog Gibney was. Sweet, gentle, funny, a total charmer...we don't know how we would have made it out here without her. We will miss her every day...she brought more to our lives than we could have imagined. We hope she's feeling better now, running, jumping, playing...young again, with no more pain, knowing she was loved. We only wish we could have had her all of her life, not just the last two years. Our time with her was too short...but changed us forever.



Go to sleep, Puppy...we love you. We were so lucky to be your family.

Gibney Grohl Neal August 4, 1999 - November 15, 2005

-Matt & Beth