I love my dog. I think she is amazing and she makes me terribly happy. She was Michael’s companion during all my travel and I owe her for that. She is independent, beautiful, bossy and obstinate and stubborn, and I think these are tremendous qualities for any girl. She is also the perfect color of orange and it is probably not an accident that our House matches her palate.

None of this is a shock to anyone that knows us. Iona is the first dog we’ve ever owned as a couple and she’s been “special” since the first day, I found her eight years ago on a corgi rescue website, and adopted her on the spot. Over the years I’ve purchased a car and a house without Michael ever seeing them, but it was this dog that caused him the most consternation. “What? You adopted a dog? A dog that is coming on Saturday?” That day an overweight damaged dog entered our lives and we’ve never been the same.

At 42 pounds she was was close to 20 pounds overweight, which contributed to her future hip dysplasia and arthritis. She was also obviously abused in some capacity as she came with serious trust issues. After the first 6 months, none of that mattered. We were smitten.

It appears that our sweet girl now has cancer. She’s been diagnosed with asymptomatic hyperthyroidism. We were at the specialist today and they found a mass along the right-side of her jaw. A tumor on the thyroid. Now she needs to go to the vet school at NC State and get a thyroid nuclear scan to determine if it is truly cancer and if we can do surgery.

I love this dog. We’ll do what we need to do, as long as she’s OK. Right now she’s sleeping on the couch next to me, with her head on a pillow. Right where she belongs.