Chrissie has been a part of our family for over 17 years. Chrissie has added so much to our lives. Chrissie is not a good pet. She is a wonderful pet.

Chrissie grew up with our two children who are now in their 20s.. Both were young when we got her.

Anatole France said, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of on”s soul remains unawakened.” I firmly believe this. Pets enrich our lives in ways that are hard to explain and in some ways are mystical.

There are so many wonderful memories of Chrissie.One of the early memories of Chrissie that illustrates her sweet nature was when she was probably a year old. One weekend morning, my wife, JoAnne came in from the backyard holding two baby birds. Chrissie was following JoAnne as she showed me these delicate creatures. She told me that Chrissie had come to her with the baby birds in her mouth unharmed. Apparently they had fallen out of their nest onto the ground and Chrissie had picked them up and taken them to JoAnne.

By the way, we took them to our vet who called one of the bird rescue organizations.

Chrissie never met a ball that wasn’t hers. When I was playing golf regularly, I would practice hitting golf balls in the yard with plastic golf balls. I would hit and Chrissie would run to the ball, get it and take it to a designated spot. Another hit and the same thing. I ran out of balls as she accumulated them for herself. Her favorite toy was a short rope tied in knots at both ends. We would throw it but she would never bring it back. She loved having us yank her around with the chew toy firmly in her mouth.A soft playful growl could be heard as we played.

In her later years,she had seizures,developed cataracts,lost her hearing, and walked slower because of some back problems. However, none of those things seemed to affect her or her personality.

Fortunately we were able to control her seizures with phenobarbitol. And like most Cockers, she was always getting ear infections.

We would get medicine from the vet and JoAnne would lovingly clean her ears to help prevent the infections.

After each cleaning, she would give JoAnne a kiss and head to the kitchen for her treat for being such a good patient.

This happened after baths also. It was a well established routine.

Whenever we leave the house, she is always at the window watching us.

When we arrive back, she is always at the window watching for us and then  greeting us at the door.

I have always feared looking in the window and not seeing her face.

There will never be another Chrissie and we cherish the time we still have with her.

–Walt from Tallahassee, FL