Kylie was 15, we had already begun plans for her Super Sweet 16 Party in April. Lots of people consider 15 old for a dog but with modern vet care and the multitude of healthy options in pet food it just isn’t, unless maybe we’re talking about super-large breeds. And Kylie was definitely not an old dog. She ran and played in her backyard everyday, rain or shine and especially in the snow. She loved going for long walks, and a good game of keep-away with pinky. No matter how many ramps we put in front of the furniture to encourage her to go easy on her joints she still prefered to jump more often than not.

This picture was taken in her beloved backyard just about a week before Kylie got sick.

We’re not saying Kylie’s life wasn’t long, it was, and it was most certainly full, yet the end came  so suddenly and unexpectedly we still can’t make sense of it.

Kylie had a brain tumor. After a really bad nights of pacing and walking into corners we took her to her wonderful vet, but by then she seemed much improved. After another night that was even worse we took her to a neurologist. When we got there her temperature was almost 106. They had to put her in cold water to lower her temp but it wouldn’t stay down. This told the doctor that there was a tumor in the area that regulates body temperature which happens to be a location that makes it inoperable. There were options but none that were remotely worth the pain and trauma it would have caused with almost no hope of a positive prognosis. Our only choice was painfully, horribly,  undeniably, unthinkably clear.

They were thankfully able to give her an injection that would keep her temperature down for a few hours. So we took her to her regular, wonderful vet who turned over a room to us, let us put blankets on the floor and call friends to come and visit Kylie.

Thanks to the medication she was feeling better, relaxed, and hungry. She ate two jars of baby food, and a handful of cheerios, then dear friends brought her a hamburger, tater tots, and a sundae from sonic. Which she thoroughly enjoyed!

Kylie was surrounded by her friends and family when we said our tearful goodbyes in a room full of so much love…

It was the hardest thing we could ever imagined having to do, yet at the same time in the million times we’ve gone over it and over it and over it, we can’t imagine how it could have been better for Kylie. It was peaceful, she wasn’t alone, or scared, or in pain; she was surrounded by her favorite people with a full tummy. How rare is that?

About as rare as finding such an amazing little soul as Kylie, our little unicorn.

So again we wanted to get the sad stuff out of the way first, so that while we continue to grieve our loss we can look back on all the happy times, of which there were thousands, and somehow find a way to move on.

It’s kind of cliche’ to begin a story at the end but in this case it’s absolutely necessary just to get the sad part out of the way. This site is intended to chronicle the laughs, the love, the life of Kylie, and to remember how wonderful she made our lives everyday!

Last week, sadly Kylie, had to move on from her life with us to greater adventures. But we will never forget how she changed our lives.

Kylie was truly exceptional, and one of a kind, totally worthy of her own website on the internet since 1996! But for those of you not familiar with kyliedog.com, here are some things you should know:

Kylie was more well-traveled than lots of people. She was born in hawaii which truly makes it paradise, we adopted her from the Humane Society there when she was eight months old. Then we moved to new jersey when she was 4 and that became her launching pad. She’s literally been from coast to coast (and Canada) including:

New York City (including Times Square, Central Park, and Rockerfeller Center at Christmas)
Boston
Philadelphia
Amish Country
New England
Washington DC
Toronto
L.A.
Hollywood
Las Vegas (one of her favorite destinations)
Seattle
Vancouver
Plus many less “exciting” destinations like Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, South Dakota, etc.

Kylie loved road trips! She visited multiple world’s wonders – Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, The Grand Canyon, and Old Faithful. She’s seen Hoover Dam, The Space Needle, Pike’s Peak, Royal Gorge bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the White House, even the Hockey Hall of Fame (can you believe they wouldn’t let her in)! And of course the ever-popular roadside oddities like Carhenge, that big thermometer in Baker, CA, and the entire town of Roswell, NM.

We moved to colorado about seven years ago and Kylie loved it here too. The weather is nice in Denver almost all the time so she got to go on many hikes, and loves climbing up rocks and walking through streams, and chasing bunnies, and she really loves the snow, going sledding, and going to the mountains!

Kylie is quite famous! She was on the radio when we had a friend in honolulu that was a dj who let her hang out in the booth with him. Then she moved on to television when her Psychic Puppy Network got media attention. It was featured on the So Graham Norton show in the UK, then she was interviewed for a television show called “The Internet Tonight” on the former TechTV channel (now G4). PPN (the psychic puppy network) was also featured in a newspaper in florida, on USA today’s website, on Seventeen magazine’s website, and for awhile it was a link on Penn & Teller’s website.

Kylie was even a model! Wag n Wash used her as a spokesmodel on their website and in their brochure and print ads. She was very photogenic even though she really didn’t like the camera. Kylie is possibly one of the most photographed dog in the world, just visit her flickr page (or click all the blue links in this post) and you’ll see what I mean.

Kylie was such a comedian, she made us laugh almost every day. She was our child, our best friend, and she was a Rock Star! She was loved by everyone who knew her, and thanks to her website even by some who never met her. We were so privileged that she shared her life with us.

Of course kyliedog.com and our memories of this sweet funny girl will live on. It was all a work of love, for the most special soul we have ever known, but we still find ourselves driven to share the wonderment of Kylie with the rest of the world – she really was just too special for just two girls to maintain – so here we will share her with you. Not in chronological or any other kind of order necessarily, just as it comes. We hope it will bring you a small fraction of the happiness she brought to us.