A YT friend of mine ("Robin Lodal") and I were talking recently about what would happen to our babies if anything ever happened to us. She was actually on vacation at the time, which is what made her think about it. Anyway, I just wanted to share our thoughts on the matter just in case anyone else hasn't considered it yet (which I hadn't before then!!
).
Let me just start with what it boils down to....
Neither of us wants our babies' futures up in the air if we were no longer there to care for them. And, obviously, it would be a good idea to choose the person/people you would want them to be with in advance if you don't want them to end up with just anyone. After all, parents of skin kids usually make similar arrangements for their children!! BUT, the difference is that if both parents were to die unexpectedly without a will, the state would make an effort to find the children's next of kin. I may completely wrong in this, but I don't think the same effort would be made for dogs, or at least not by everyone. And what would happen to them if you were out of town on vacation and they were with you and survived?? Again, I may be wrong, but I think they could very well go to an animal shelter until someone came to claim them!!
Yikes! I know lots of YT members make efforts to find homes for Yorkies who end up in a shelter, so it's not big leap to assume that no one would want their babies to be there for even a day!! I for one cannot even THINK about that!! And the situation becomes further compounded if you have a Yorkie with any health problems at all....Liver shunt/MVD, diabetes, etc... One of my girls has MVD, and although she MIGHT be okay if she were fed, say...Alpo, it could very well kill her!
There are lots and lots of Yorkies who have special dietary restrictions or take medications, and to stray from those (for some) even once or (for others) for some length of time could end in tragedy!
After having thought of all the horrible possibilities, my bf and I discussed who we'd want our girls to go to if that ever happened, and we talked to that person to make sure they would agree to take them...sort of like a godparent! We also went so far as to choose a secondary person who would take them in the event the primary person is unable to. I have our wishes written up, and both of us signed it. AND I have copies in both our vehicles, on the fridge, and in both our wallets...just to cover all the bases! I feel some comfort now knowing that if something horrible happened to both of us, our girls would be cared for. (Although I don't think this is necessary, we will also be making it known to our secondary beneficiaries on our life insurance policies that we'd like "x" amount of dollars to go with the dogs for their care.) All of this could be accomplished more officially in a will of course, but we aren't at the stage yet where we own anything of real value and for us having a will wouldn't be reasonable.
ALSO, I wanted to share something I read recently on
Dog Jaunt : Traveling with a small dog about collar tags and how to get more info to whoever finds your dog...which ties in with our topic above if your dogs are traveling with you when something happens and they survive. There are several options out there, including small collar flash drives (wow!!), but for me the least expensive option with the most freedom to put as much (or as little) info as you want/need is to purchase a domain name (website address) for your dog(s)!!
Dog Jaunt : Domain name for dog ID tag : Traveling with a small dog Simple, effective, and inexpensive...what's not to like?!! So, instead of trying to cram their names, phone number, etc... on a tiny little tag, I can include their web address on it, which when the person goes to that address they will have all the information they need, including emergency contacts, alternate phone numbers, that there will be a REWARD!!!, etc..
Just some thoughts I wanted to pass along to anyone else who hadn't thought about these things before now (just like me!)
