Willy-Bill made it just past his 20th birthday this March before something terminal happened in his gut and we had to put him down. He was born on this place and nobody was ever on his back but me. I got him past the basics out of a couple of library books then we learned the rest of it together. He had an exceptional cow sense especially with baby calves. One time a new mother forgot where she left her calf, WB, on his own recognized the problem and helped her look for the calf. He had a great sense of humor and with both of us standing on the ground, he would tease me unmercifully.

One time he snatched my pistol out of my back pocket and dropped it into his water bucket. When I would wear rubber chore books, he would grab the front of one boot and lift my foot off the ground, leaving me to hop around on one leg pretending to be terrified. One night, when it was pitch you can’t see the hand in front of your face dark, I was out looking to check on him as I did before bed every night. With no flashlight, I was inching along the edge of a pond because there was just enough light in the sky to reflect back from the water, when something soft tapped me once on the shoulder. EEEEEYOW. But when I was on his back, it was quite different. He took great care of me, like when approaching a tree, he would somehow measure the height of the lowest limb, and if I would have to duck, he would move out away from the tree even if it meant getting into rough ground off the beaten path. Then when his head got under the branch, he would measure again, and if he judged that I would still not clear without nodding my head, not lean forward mind, just nod my head, he would move out even farther. We were friend and companion for twenty years and I do sorely miss him.

Bill from TX

About 4 yrs ago we also adopted a dog from the Bergen Cty shelter, his name was Courage. He was a Yellow Lab Ridgeback,. He was the best dog. My kids loved him and he was my baby. It turned out that he was very sick. We had to bring him bk to the shelter. Although we only had him for maybe 2 month. I know in my heart that he loved us, as much as we loved him. We have since adopted an other dog, a Terrier mix. His name name is Ozzy, and he the best dog .

Dina from NJ

My mother, now 85, Lives on a nine acre estate in Kansas City. It is surrounded by a large shrub boarder and most people don’t even know the house is there. She is a renowed gardener and has been featured in several magazines, hard bound books and even on HGTV’s “Secret gardens” TV program.

She has had Golden Retrievers for many years and dearly loved them, as did I. Her last two, Katlin and Sarah Virginia, other wise known as Little Katie and Big Sally.

These two dogs were beautiful and also two of the biggest babies you ever saw, when ever there was a thunderstorm, my mother had to get out of her bed and come downstairs and sleep on the couch with them because they were so frightend of the thunder.
We were talking one day about those too and my mother said that that she doubted she could count on those two big wimps to protect her. She could not have been more wrong.

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We lost both of our smart, loving, loyal, beautiful dogs, RedDog and Nellie, within six months of each other this past year. One through illness and the other possibly through the tainted dogfood fiasco.

Everyone they met was impressed by them. Their intelligence was evident and their love for people radiated from them. A dog’s beauty is directly related to the love they receive (just as your current caller is commenting about). We miss them dearly. The pain of their loss is indiscribable.

GOD knew what he was doing by giving us dogs to teach us how to be loving and loyal and giving.

Thank you, Mark, for this space.

PS. Look at the love radiating from Red’s face as he looks at my daughter

Lynn from Alaska

Like a lot of people who have shared stories here my wife and I have loved many dogs and cats. There are a lot of beautiful stories and I would be hard pressed to choose one over another were it not for the lasting effect her memory has on both of us.
Snow Cloud was a white German Shepard who shared our life along with a black Labrador. She was timid and gentle. I remember when we had a cat with kittens. Whenever the cat would leave her babies Snow Cloud would gently take them away and hide with them to protect them. She would be so upset when the mother would show up and demand them back. Never the less she would leave them and the mother would take them back. This was just an example of her personality.

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In 1985, just 2 weeks after we lost or previous companio, my sister found a littlt whit puppy in the middle of a very busy street. She rescued the little thing and called my wife, Madeline, to see if we wanted to adopt her. We were still saddened over the loss of Bitsy and didn’t think we were ready for another dog yet but we went over to see her just to make my sister happy. As soon as Madeline picked up the puppy, it was all over. We had a new mwmber of the household. As she grew from a tiny pup to a beautiful Coker – Spitz mix, we realized how lucky we were to adopt her, Madeline named her Buffy because of he golden white coat.
We were soon astonished at how spart she was and how easily she learned new things. She became Madeline’s daily companion, following her around or just sitting beside her on the sofa.
In 1991, Madeline suffered a major heart attack. I called the paramedics who took her to the hospital where she passed soon after.
Buffy saw all this happening and saw when they carried Madeline out the door on a stretcher. For the next three months Buffy sat looking out the front window, waiting for her mistress to return. I was worried about her but she still ate her dinner and went out when she needed so I knew that with time she would get back to normal. She would still wander theough the house occassionally as if searching for something.
Over time, Buffy slowly transferred her alliegence to me and could sense when I was particularly sad and lonely. She helped me through some very trying times and I sometimes think that if it weren’t for her, I may not have made it myself.

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