Shadow, my constant companion for the last sixteen years, a guard to my family, lover of pizza is now my Shaddie girl angel. I knew this day was going to come.....being a gorgous husky-shepard mix, sixteen was considered a long life. I've been having dreams now for a while, my subconsious way of dealing with the inevitable of life.
Shadow came into our lives as a little ball of fluff which my boys dubbed "fluffy" right away. I knew she was going to grow out of her fluffdome, and honestly couldn't see myself saying " sic em fluffy", so asked the boys to think about another name. Her name finally came about when everytime I stopped, she would be right there bumping into my legs..she followed me around everywhere...my shadow.
She's lived in two states, three time zones and six different homes that we've moved to. She was a lady..she sipped her water, licked and protected her "babies" (little stuffed animal puppies)..never a big chewer and destroyer of stuff. She went through a long sock stealing phase where she hid them under my son's bed. She hated water..would walk into the street to avoid a sprinker..even in the Texas heat and ha
ted car rides.
I loved that her deep fierce bark would scare the bejeezus out of the guys that would knock on my door selling magazines or cleaning crap. I smiled when she would protect me when a strange male guest would hug me hello...and would give a little bark when my hubby kissed me goodbye in the mornings.
She was a gentle girl with a mellow disposition that suited me fine. I wouldn't have done well with a high energy dog. A plate of food could be left on a coffee table and she would never touch it which my friends thought was odd for a dog.
Her last year she was a tad bit blind..and her hearing was not so great..but her sense of smell never wavered...she knew when pizza came into the house and was an adept begger. Here bladder got weaker and her hind legs stiff....yeah, gettin old can suck but she still had spunk and wanted to play..I loved that.
Thanks to Dr. Laura Chang, a great mobile Vet that I've been using since we found it harder to get her to th
e regular one, she was able to go gently to sleep in her fave spot in front of the couch with my two sons and myself right there with her.
Dealing with two offers that day was probaby a Godsend but I feared with each conversation that I would break down. A good friend coming over to toast Shadow with a glass of wine and share some tears eased some sadness of the moment.
Time heals so they say, but right now she is still with us...her fur will fill up my vacuum for weeks ahead. I still walk in the door and look for her..still imagine I hear her laying down at the foot of my bed and still think first thing in the morning that I need to let her out.
My Shadow had a very good, long and healthy life, she was a good protecter of my family and I miss her like crazy. Losing a pet that has been there everyday for sixteen years is very hard. They say all dogs go to heaven..so that alone puts a smile on my face.
your tribute to her. It brought tears to my eyes. And you reminded me of what I went through. It will be one year on November 12th that I had to put my Kobi down. I miss him dearly still.
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