Dog's who have died but you think of often.

[LizStreithorst]

I bred my Pyr bitch to a Komondor male.  (I don't care that they say you should not do that.  I do as I choose.)  The mom and dad were both goat dogs.  I saved a female puppy for a house pet.  She spent her first year doing things like eating the outside of the house   Then one day a switch flipped in her head and she became a great house dog.  She was beautiful when she was newly groomed.  She had a great coat to work with.  She had deep black eye and nose pigment  She looked like was wearing mascara.  Her name was Kelsey.  Her nick name was Maybelline.  I miss her.

[Mugwump]

I bred my Pyr bitch to a Komondor male.  (I don't care that they say you should not do that.  I do as I choose.)  The mom and dad were both goat dogs.  I saved a female puppy for a house pet.  She spent her first year doing things like eating the outside of the house   Then one day a switch flipped in her head and she became a great house dog.  She was beautiful when she was newly groomed.  She had a great coat to work with.  She had deep black eye and nose pigment  She looked like was wearing mascara.  Her name was Kelsey.  Her nick name was Maybelline.  I miss her.

Sadly, it's dark side of loving our pet families....we outlive them....I, too, think of past pet family that we have watched marching through our lives..all too quickly..

[LizStreithorst]

Then there was Babe.  She was not a pretty dog.  I got her for my husband.  Then he got sick and died and Babe whacked out.  She would attack my Pitt Bull mix when I drove in from work.  the poor Pitt understood that she was crazy and run hide under a side table shaking!  Babe wouldn't let me get near her.  I was at a loss.

I joined a veterinary forum.  Most of us were just people but real vets posted there, too.  I posted about my problem.  I was instructed to corner the dog and catch her and put her on a long lead and keep her with me at all times.  They said to put her on Prozac, that it was better than the dog SSRI.  Damned if it didn't work!  Babe became attached to me.  I was able to let her off the lead after a couple of weeks.  I quit giving her Prozac a couple of months later.  I got her normal again.  I miss her.

[BallAquatics]

Great post Liz!!!   

My first dog was a beagle pup I named Trix.  Pop did some work for a neighbor who had bread his male with a female from another neighbor.  He got pick of the litter and traded it to Pop for the work he had done.  We watched the pups grow and made our choice so that Trix came home with me on my birthday.  I was 6 years old.  He was just down the road, but by the time I had carried him home, he felt like he weighted a ton!  He was my constant companion for many years as we roamed over the rural Ohio country side.

Dennis

[wsantia1]

My last dog Tootie comes to mind. He was abandoned to me by my granddaughter and he tried to bite me the first time he met me. He was a Maltese that she got from a puppy mill.

Slowly but surely he ended up taking a liking to me and me to him. We ended up as best buddies and he became very protective of me. For a Maltese he was a mean little sucker but was finally getting the socialization that he needed. lol

Sadly he came down with an autoimmune disease that attacked his platelets and passed away at a young age. I think of him often because he had such a bad start in life and was finally happy when he passed.

[Ron Sower]

Schatzi was my male miniature schnauzer when I was first married. Spunky little fellow and I taught him several tricks. He was frustrating though because sometimes he would get out at night and roam and I used to go crazy looking for him in the neighborhood.  We would "sing" together occasionally and it was a lot of fun.