Best Friends on Earth and in Doggy-Heaven.

Missing Old Friends

Tears still come to my eyes when I think of these two, as well as their predecessor, Jazzy-Dog. All three were some the best friends my boys and I could ever have. We miss them terribly. We're happy to have Copper with us to help fill that void that creeps up on your when there is no dog in the house.

Valley-Girl, the old girl on the right in the photo, was over 13 when it came time to say goodbye to her. She was a comfort in times of sadness and spent many hours watching over the boys, especially, "her" boy, Bobby. When Bobby was in the sandbox in the back yard, she was always nearby. If he got up and went to the garage, she would get up and diligently follow him, making certain he was always in view. Valley-Girl came into our hearts about a year after their dad and I split up. Her unconditional love for me and the boys was unsurpassed. We could always count on her understanding our moods and loving us more when we needed it more. At 6 1/2 years, she fell off the back of our deck and broke her hind leg in several places. After some major surgery, she pulled through but developed arthritis in that leg which began to bother her as she aged. At 13, she somehow tore the tendon in that same leg and the doctors were reluctant to perform surgery due to her age and the previous damage. It was a sad summer day for sure when we said our goodbyes.

Shadow, Bobby's Lab, was full of life and as stubborn as a mule - or perhaps as his daddy! From Day 1, it was clear that Bobby was his boy. He loved tormenting Valley-Girl, and she loved getting him in trouble for it. Never having her own puppies, she "adopted" Shadow as her own and attempted to teach him wrong from right. She was a very persistent, but very loving teacher. She taught him to play tug-of-war and it was fun to watch how she started off so gentle and then as he got stronger, she got tougher too. When we gave them treats, we always gave Valley-Girl the larger one, knowing that she would put it down and then get Shadow to drop his. She just wanted to make sure that he knew who was boss, so she took his and then "let" him take hers. I also caught her trying to frame him on more than one occasion. Shadow loved eating the toes out of his daddy's socks, while Valley-Girl preferred their boxer shorts. Several times I would watch her bring out some forbidden item, prance by Shadow and then, once again, "let" him take it from her. Then she would bark out an alarm loud and clear so that I would know that that darn puppy was misbehaving again! We lost Shadow much too soon when he was just 3 1/2. He was hit by a car and left to die on the side of the road. Unfortunately, there was too much internal damage to save him. Our friends at the Willow Run Veterinary Clinic were kind and shared our family's sorrow at his passing.

I like to think of Valley-Girl and Shadow up in Doggy-Heaven hanging out with Jazzy-Dog. Jazzy would be running in the cow fields, rolling in - well, we were never quite sure what it was she rolled in, but I can tell you it smelled really bad - while Valley is laying in the warm sun watching Shadow chase whatever happened to come his way. Lots of bunnies to chase - but never catch - endless piles of stinky socks and boxers to chew on, balls to chase and treats to snack on.

Forever in our hearts.