Precious Gifts
Knight, Angel, & Diva
KNIGHT
The first to arrive was a tiny, black little boy with a small white patch on his chest. He looked liked he was wearing a tuxedo. We pondered over a name and fell for Knight because we felt he was a protector and the name is so fitting for him. No matter where we are during the day or night, he is always watching out for us.
He is the most sensitive of the three and when I would be down, or crying, he was right there to comfort me. He can not bare it when I am suffering. He has always been there and wanted me to hold him at those times as if to take away my pain. Somehow, without my ever saying a single word, he knew how desperate I was for the love I so longed for.
I could be looking for him and was to discover he was just like my shadow. Anytime I could not find him I soon realized if I would stop and look directly behind and to my left there he was. When I say directly I mean he is less than 12 inches away from at all times. He is stealth and makes no noise. He was not letting me go anywhere without him.
At times when Bill was not at home or out of town working, Knight always seemed to say, by his actions, he was protecting us.
It is as if God let him know I could not be left alone. He made sure that he never left me and would lay on my desk while I was on the computer, by my side when I was on the couch, or laying right next to me when I was in the bed. He also loves to lay with his head on the window sill looking out and defending his domain.
Little could either of us know how fitting their names would become! He is like a Knight that defends his realm. Although he acts big for his size, he weighs only 9 pounds. He was born on CHRISTday, December 25th, 2002. It is so befitting that GOD chose that day for him to be born. Bill wrote about our babies. Here are some of his memories of Knight.
Knight, the Protector of our Hearts
Knight would come to the bathroom and lay on the bath rug while I got dressed in the morning. When Lynn would take a bath or shower, he would come in and if the door was mostly closed, he would nod it open. Then he would lay down on either the towels or rugs that we used to keep the floor covered for them since the tile was so cold on their little feet. Once Lynn got out, he would come right over to her and start licking the water off her legs. He just did this for her and never to me. He was returning his love for her and how much she had done and meant to him.
He would also come to wherever I was to see what I was doing and to offer his help. To keep track of Lynn and I, he would always lay in a strategic location. He knew his boundaries, without being told. If someone came to the front door we could most of the time open it and he would stay right where he was, but give the visitor a loud greeting. Then after he got to know you, and as you were leaving, he would start to whine and whimper as to say, “please don’t leave, you just got here”
He almost never slept. He would only nap a little because he took his job so seriously. He would perk up at the slightest noise, and then he would get up to investigate without us even knowing most of the time. He would finally get a really deep sleep once he was so exhausted from staying on watch. There were many times we would wake up during the night to either get some water or use the bathroom and he would be there just looking and watching us. He mainly would sleep above Lynn’s head to give her comfort, or right beside one of us with his head on our thigh or leg so that he would know the instant we tried to get up or move. He would stay at a window or a glass door to see where and what we were doing. He would just lay there and stay there no matter how long. He was so stealthy. More than once, he would follow us in another room of the house and then get closed in because it had a baby gate to keep closed off. We would not even know he had come in there with us at the time.
He never stayed with one person all the time. He would go back and forth between us if we were in different parts of the house. If either one of us was gone too long he would come looking for us. He was our protection, our “KNIGHT”. When ever a package would arrive or if I brought something home he would come right over and start sniffing it. He wanted to see if it was for him or to see what it smelled like. He wanted to get a whiff of the new scents.
He loved his toys to play with. We had him about a week and Lynn had to travel to Detroit to get Angel. While she was gone, which was a 12-hour total “fly and get” trip, I took Knight as small as he was since he was only 5 months old, to get some chew toys from the pet store. We picked out a rope, a squeaky ice cream cone, some small tennis balls, and pig skin sticks and knots. Still after 7 years he still had his rope, the cone, and the same pig skin knots. In fact, they had Beanie Babies that were still in pristine condition even though they would chew on them. Only twice did we ever find one that had a little hole and some of the beans had come out. In order to keep up with their toys we bought them a small fabric pet toy holder that was perfect to hold them. Knight would jump into this sometimes and dig and romp in there to find what he wanted to play with. Then he would either stay in there or jump back out with it in his mouth. He would jump on the couch and start rolling and pawing and snorting just so he could have some fun. He never liked for me to help Lynn to get up or hold her hand to steady her. He would whine & bark at me. He was saying, “Leave MY Mommy alone.”
Knight had such incredible senses that once he was in the front bathroom scratching at the base of the tub around the caulk line. I went into see what he was doing and thought he was nuts. I told him to quit and he did. But again, more than once, I found him in there scratching and barking at it. Finally, about 3 months later, we started seeing little black sugar ants EXACTLY from around the caulk line he had been scratching and barking at. He had been trying to warn us of them there because he could hear and sense them. After that, we just let him bark at whatever he heard and knew there was something he could sense. - Bill
ANGEL
The next to arrive, a week later after we got Knight, was Angel and she was named in honor of my sister, Tammy. She was born on January 22, 2003. I flew to Detroit to get her from the breeder. The ordeal to get her took a twelve hour – one day flight. Even then, Angel touched a little girl on the plane who drew a picture of her.
She is silver and white. And when I saw her, she made me think of Tammy, because I would not have had any of the Shih Tzu’s without her. Not to mention Tammy was such a sweet child and to me more closely resembled an Angel; thus the name Angel. As a tiny puppy, her breeder would tell me stories about her picking on her siblings and them dragging her around by her tail. She never fought back. She was much smaller than they were and they did not hesitate to “give it to her”.
Now and then Knight picks on her and she just takes it, until she has finally had enough. Like a brother picking on his little sister. After about 10 minutes of his picking on her, she will eventually let him know that she has had it with him. She will make one snap and he knows – time to quit. Her name is most fitting to her. Even the veterinarian said out of all the animals she treats named Angel she is the only one that fits the name. She rarely barks, she never growls, and is always friendly to everyone. She knows she is special with her coat the longest and prettiest of the three. I made the mistake of cutting it once and she was not happy. I never did that again.
It is innate in her that she acts and walks like a proper English lady of royalty and prances whenever she knows she has done good and is looking forward to her treat. She is petite at only 7 pounds. Bill wrote of Angel in our lives. Below is just a small insight.
Angel, whose name fit her perfectly
Angel would stay in her bed and Knight would start barking and pawing and nipping at her to get her to play with him. She would just ignore him. But, as he got closer and louder she would back snap at him, because he most always attacked from her rear. He was just picking on her like a normal brother and sister does. Once we thought he had done enough aggravation, we would say his name and he would look at us both as to say, “Was I doing something??” Then he would come to be held or go lay in another bed beside Diva or by himself. Angel was relieved, and she could get some peace and quite.
Angel always walked like a lady. She never liked her hair being messed up. If you rubbed her or brushed her, she would just re-shake herself as to say, “No, this is the way I want it.”
She would always be at the door waiting for me to come home right when she’d know I’d be there, usually at 5:30 or so. Then once I came in, she would run around in circles and bouncing on her front legs, and go get her rag for me to play tug of war with her. Knight would get so jealous. He would try to snatch it from her. If he was able to get it, she would just go get another toy or rope and keep playing. Once we said time for a treat, they all would drop what they had in their mouths and all of them would just follow us to the kitchen. They always followed and never ran past us.
She loved making a bed out of any towel or pile of clothes that she could find, especially those in the laundry room. She enjoyed the warmth and security in there. We would go looking for her at times to see where she was, and each room had at least 1 or 2 beds for them. We would go and find her curled up in the laundry room. There were two places she loved the most to sleep. One was under the china carved console, which was so fitting since she was a Shih-Tzu, and the other was the laundry room.
She also loved the warmth of the sun and light. When we lived in Valrico, she would actually lay on the window sill. She just fit there nicely and loved the ability to look out and watch for me when I came home. She was more a daddy’s girl while Knight was Lynn’s “Little Man”. When we moved to Dundee she would always like to lie at the back sliding glass doors, which faced the south, or the pool entrance door that also faced that way. It gave lots of light and warmth for her. When we moved to Jonesboro, the office was in the front bedroom facing East. Again, this gave a great place for them to lay, enjoy the light and warmth as well. In the afternoon, she would like to sleep in the backdoor bed so as to get the warmth and light as the sun was going down in the west across the back of the house – Bill
Diva
The last to arrive was Diva. She is white with a little caramel. She was born October, 17, 2003. She is a tiny firecracker, with legs only 2 ¾” (the length of my index finger). She maybe the tiniest, weighing only 2 ½ pounds, but her size does not deter her in the least. She was so named because when I first laid eyes on her, I just felt that was the name that would fit her. She was extremely tiny weighing only 8 ounces when we got her. Again, God had orchestrated this in order for me to be able to get her. She was a gift from the groomer who had fallen in love with Knight and Angel. The groomer had realized how much we loved and cared for our babies and she wanted Diva to have a loving home. She surprised us by giving her as a gift and would take nothing in exchange. It was because Diva was the only one born of the litter and had no other siblings. She also knew that I wanted ‘a tiny one’ and that Knight and Angel were not as small as I had been told.
She fits in my purse and goes everywhere with me, and makes no noise. Even all my trips to the doctor she always went. Knowing that I would bring her; he (the doctor) would always ask if she was in there, referring to my handbag. He marveled at how tiny and precious she was and never made a single sound. He asked me if she was real. I started laughing and said “of course”, I asked “would you like to see her?”, and with that I took her out of my bag and he was amazed that she was REAL.
Because she is so tiny, when she wants to be picked up, she will paw at your foot with the gentlest touch. It is so extremely soft it is easy to miss it. Generally, if you don’t pick her up after the second paw she will go to the other person. We always try to pick her up immediately, but on occasion it has not happened and she still never makes a sound. The only time she barks is when she is playing with Knight and then you hear what sounds like a little squeaky toy. She loves to be held and if you are not careful, you can find that you have held her all day and that she has not eaten. It is only when you hear her tummy growl; you know you have to put her down so that she can eat. She will not complain and does not ask to get down, except to go to the bathroom.
She is most precious and I am extremely protective of her. She has an open fontanel and I was told from the breeder that it would always be that way. You can not even scold her or she will be upset for days. I made the mistake of doing it once and never again.
We’d often stop just to watch Knight and Diva play with each other. To see a 2 ½ pound ball of fun take on a 9 pound protector is so incredible to see God’s living miracles at play. When Knight wants to play and pick on Angel, Diva will stand and cheer them on, as if to say, “Go for it”. She does not like it when they stop playing and she will try with her tiny little bark to get them started back up again.
Although Knight is a boy, he takes care of Diva as if she is his own. He will clean her face, play with her, and make sure who ever is holding her is not miss-treating her. Angel will not have anything to do with Diva most of the time. Bill wrote down some fond memories of Diva.
Diva, the little spunk and with enormous heart
Diva would come to me when I was in the bathroom and paw my foot to be picked up and held. At other times, if she wanted to be held, she would come over to either one of us, lightly paw us and then turn around and just stand there waiting to be picked up. She did this on her own and was never taught how. In fact, all the tricks and things that they all did was their own personality that GOD gave them. We wanted it that way so that we could say and show that they had their own spirit to them. In fact, ALL creatures of GOD have this. It is what makes them unique just like us.
Lynn loved Diva so much that she wanted to take her everywhere, and she did most of the time. Because of Diva being so small, she could fit inside her purse and never be noticed. She would just go in there right with all of Lynn’s other stuff, like her wallet, brush, keys, etc. The few times that Lynn would go to the doctor, she would take Diva with her. She would talk about her and tell him how little, sweet, and loving she was and no one would notice she had her. He would ask if she was there with her at that moment and she said she was. He looked into the bag and asked if she was alive and Lynn said sure, and called her name and Diva popped up her head to see what Lynn wanted. He was so amazed how small and quite she was. Then each time Lynn went back to see him, he asked if she was in there and Lynn would say yes and show him.
They did not care too much for baths, but that is normal for most animals. We would take them to Dee’s to be groomed or she would pick them up. She did not do this for Diva because it was too stressful for her, but it also gave Lynn some alone time with just her. Dee said that Knight and Angel were the BEST she ever had that she groomed and loved Knight the most, and he loved her too. When Dee moved away, Lynn had to learn how to groom and bath them herself. This was a task because each one had tons of hair and had to be bathed, rinsed really well, and then blown dry with a hair dryer. They all were scared of that noise and Knight would rather run out with his hair dripping wet than to stay while he got hair dried. Sometimes, I would let him go a little damp because he wanted to be with his mommy. When Lynn learned how to give them cuts, mainly puppy cut style or just trimming their faces and feet, we would have to try to work as a team because they did not like the noise or the feeling the trimmer would make on their paws. But what was funny was, once they had their cuts, I had to have mine next and Knight would come right on over and try to get up on me. I would tell him to get back or sit, but he was just too playful and wanted in on the action. Go figure.
When Knight and Angel would play together, Knight would run and nip at Angel to get her to come at him. As he did, he would run back to hide behind the coffee table trunk. But, so he could see where Angel was, instead of peeking around the edge of the table, he would lay flat on his belly and look under the table, which was only four inches of clearance. No one taught him how to do this maneuver. He just did it on his own. In the meantime, Diva would spring to action while standing on the edge of the sofa seat. Her little tail twitching back and forth with expectation. Each time she would bark at them as to say, “get ‘em, get ‘em”, just like Lynn and I would.
At night, if I would lie on the couch to rest for the day, Diva would come to me and want to be held. I’d pick her up and she would stand on my chest and bury her precious little face into mine. Then she would curl up and go to sleep right under my chin or on my chest. Knight would hop up too, but if Diva was already there, he would either go to my legs or lay beside us on the other section of the couch. He was not being jealous of her, he was just checking on Diva to make sure she was alright and taken care of. She was his, for he took care of her. He would wash her face, played with her, and although he was 3 times her size and weight, he treated her with the most gentle fashion and love. He would bite at the blanket she was on or the pillow that was near by instead of her. If she was cornered, Diva would rare back on her back legs and like a little grizzly bear and would give him what-fore.
For treats, we shared a lot of our own food with them. Not a lot, but just a small bit, but they got exact equal shares so that none were shown partiality, and they knew that. Diva usually first, because she was the smallest, Angel next because she was also a lady, then Knight. Most of the time we just had to say what it was, or it would make a sound of being pulled opened, or in some cases, just the smell like a fresh bag of pop-corn. When we had fudge pops, they would come up to us and sit waiting for their share. Lynn would bite of a small piece to give each of them. Normally two each, and by the time they had theirs, all that was left was about two bites for Lynn.
Most of the time, if there was a loud noise, like dropping something or the desk computer keyboard trays would pop, it would startle them, especially Diva because she was so timid. And she was so acute to sub-noise, that she could tell if we were going to get rain or a storm was coming because she started to tremble. She would try to go hide because of it, even though it was totally clear outside at the time. Mom had made a pouch to hold her in like a papoose. Knight was most of his life not scared of storms or thunder at all. But, he started to become more afraid as he got older. Angel was the calmest of them all. Even when we took them to the VET to have check ups or shots that should NEVER be given to them, she would just let the doctor and nurses do what ever they needed to do. They even commented that out of all the other patients they named Angel, she was the only one that REALLY acted like one. She never screamed, yelled, or tried to get away. Knight on the other hand was a true patient. He knew what they were going to do and he was very scared and wanted Lynn to hold him. If they needed to check his anal glands or even just try to put a Q-tip near his anal, he would scream like a girl. It sounded like they were torturing him. Yet, they were being as gentle as could be. The VET and assistants LOVED all three of our babies.
Speaking of treats, they ALL loved bacon. No matter what time of day or night. If we made it, they were there to enjoy it, just like their Mom. We also made our own chip ranch style dip made of sour cream and nature’s seasoning. Once, after Lynn had finished, she left the bowl in reach of where Knight could get to it. We found him with it creamed all over his face, which as you know about SHIH-TZU’s, it is completely covered in hair. He looked like he had been on one of those shows where someone gets hit in the face with a cream pie, and doing his best to lick it off so as not to get caught.
We could count on one hand the number of times that we were woken up by their bark, and that was usually Knight because he heard something or someone came to the door and either knocked or rang the bell. They all 3 would then come to full alert and start letting us know. But most of the time when we could sleep in or go take a nap the only noise we would hear from them was their precious snores, gently breathing, or if one got up to get some water or nibble, we could hear their little paws on the bare floor.
The babies loved going with us. When we would get ready or dressed, they would watch us and if we grabbed their blankets, they knew that would be going and starting getting ready to be picked up. They would go to the door that we would be going out of and starting twirling and barking with joy that they were going. BUT, whenever we went to church, they instinctively knew what day and night it was, Sunday or Wednesday. They would just go get into a bed of theirs to get settled in.
When Lynn would take them to the bank, she would take all three with her because I was at work. She would drive and keep Diva in her arm, while Angel would lie in the passenger side seat, and Knight would try to look out the window or get on the arm rest by her to look out also. Once they got to the bank, Lynn would pull up to the teller shoot. Normally there were ladies in there and they would see that she had the babies with her. They would ask if they would like a treat and she said that would be sweet. When Lynn made the deposit slip and got the receipt back, there would be a treat for each one. Once Lynn got the treats, she would give each of them one. Lynn knew from that point on that she needed to take some with her so that if the person at the window did not provide a treat, Lynn wanted to make sure they got one once the receipt came back and they had been good to deserve one. Then once they got back home, Lynn would take them all to the kitchen and give them another one because they had been so good.
God protected our babies in SO many ways. The main ones I can recount is that there were lots of times that we had “BIG” recluse spiders get into the house because of living in Florida. Yet, neither of them ever got bit, even though we had on occasion the large spiders crawl right near or next to our little ones. And, if they had gotten bitten, they would have died because of there small size and the spiders' venom is very deadly.
Most mammal species of carnivores, such as cats, dogs, including wolves, bears, sea otters and kinkajous have anal glands. Dogs employ their glands in marking territory and recognize other dogs by smell. At some point, these glands often need to be expressed for the animal’s hygiene and health. The glands can become problems, especially in small dogs. Usually the glands are expressed automatically when they have a movement. Unfortunately, especially in small dogs, the glands are not expressed as normal and have to be done manually.
Diva had this situation more than once. We could usually call her VET and get her in to take care of it. We noticed this was happening because of her scooting on the floor and also the puffiness of her Anal. On August 23, 2011 we had not had a chance to take Diva to the VET. So we took her to the Emergency clinic. She was so nervous and trembling. When we got there, the doctor and nurses had never seen a grown Shih-Tzu so tiny and frail. They let us know she would be taken care of and took her to be operated on. A few hours later, they brought her out to us. They had to operate on both the glands to release the fluid. They told us to let them know how she was doing and then gave us some medicine drops that we need to give her for the pain. The medicine they prescribed was Tramadol. We were not told of any side effects, but there are many and the first three are hives, difficult breathing, and swelling in the face or throat. We had never given Diva this before and plus the amount to give her was based on larger animals.
She had been doing pretty good, but we were still concerned that she was in pain, so we decided to give her a dose to help her. The amount we gave her overdosed her immediately. She was struggling and her tongue swelled, foaming at mouth, turned totally blue. We started screaming for Diva to come out of it and calling out to JESUS and to save our little baby. It was about 2 minutes later before she could start breathing again. We were so thankful that GOD had spared her life. We threw the medicine down the drain. But, the lack of oxygen caused a problem for her that emerged some time later. She started to get white cloudiness in her little eyes. She was starting to go blind. She never complained and tried her very best to still do all that she could and not make messes on the floor. All our babies had been potty trained to go on pads in the bathrooms. This was because Lynn did not want them swooped up by a Large bird, like an owl, or get out through the fence. Plus, it kept them from smelling and getting their coats nasty.
Lynn taught our babies how to be very gentle when other people were around. She made especially sure that if any little child or adult got near their food they would not get aggressive like some animals do. She would get down on the floor and put her fingers in their mouths and tell them to be “easy”. You could actually try to grab their tongues and they would not snap or try to bite you. In fact, Knight used it as a game and was very agile in making sure you couldn’t get it. Our next door neighbor, Ray, would come over some times and play with Knight and Angel. He loved Knight, and Knight loved him too. Ray would get Knight to bring him one of his toys and he would sit on the ground in our foyer and play and tussle with him, especially if it was his favorite….the Rope. Once he was all tired out, Ray would pick him up in his arms and go for getting his tongue that was hanging out. Still Knight would give Ray a work out as well and it was hard for him to grab it. Yet, he NEVER bit our neighbor Ray, or our long time friend John Boy, Lynn’s best friend Marcie, our grandkids, or any other person that came over. Knight, Angel, and Diva were so gentle when you had something for them to eat and would take it out of your finger tips with the gentleness of motions. And by the chance you got your fingers in a little too far, they knew it and would not bite down, but gently suck it out of your grasp.
When Lynn was at home and wanted to drive, she would pickup them all up at the same time, carry them to the car, get in, and drive them to the bank or to get me if needed. When we went together, all 3 would sit with her. Knight would rest on the door arm, looking out and making sure to keep watch. Diva would ride in her arms, and Angel would lie between us on the console.
These were just a very small bit of what our babies did in our lives together and how GOD made them especially for us. I am so grateful Lynn asked me to write about them and include it in this book. Lynn will now continue with what she wrote. - Bill
Knight, Angel, and Diva are special because they are my gifts from God. He opened heaven’s gates and allowed me to love them opening up my heart in a way I could have never dreamed possible. It is hard to find the words. How could He know that those babies would be the very thing I needed to save my life? They have brought me so much. When I look into those tiny little eyes, it is almost like I am looking into His eyes and I owe it ALL TO HIM! He alone knew I would need them.
I don’t call or refer to them as dogs. They are my babies! The best part is that Bill loves them just as much as I do. I was initially worried he might not like them. And, while he would not mistreat them, he might not be as nice as he should be. That is something; thank the Lord, which has never occurred. He is just as protective and loving as I am.
My precious gifts from God and as with everything that HE does, is always right on time. It is so miraculous that God has put three unique spirits in His creations and yet they have become family to one another and us.
Lynn's recording Diva med Miracle 