"Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day." ~ John Grogan
Lady was born on Valentine's Day in 2004. She was born to a Chocolate Labrador Retriever and a Black Labrador Retriever. My father had wanted me, age three at the time, to have a dog for a while. He saw that a family that lived in a rural area had a litter of 11 or 13 puppies and could not afford having that many dogs for an extended period of time. They were giving puppies away to good homes. Now, dad took the chance and went over to the house to see the pups. All they had left was chocolate males and a few black males and females. He insisted on getting a female dog, so he asked about a black pup. They told him, "Buy us a bag of dog food, and the pup is yours." Dad went and bought a $20 bag of dog food, and the pup was his.
However, he forgot to ask my mother about getting a puppy so she stayed at my grandfather's house for a few weeks. One night, my mom came home to a puppy in a handmade, wooden kennel in the garage. The next day, I was watching Lady and the Tramp and decided to call my dog Lady. And this is where Lady's journey started.
We grew up together and bonded quickly. I was always with her and she was always with me. My mother would find us in the bed, me reading a book to her. She once found us sitting in a laundry basket together! I am sure that was a sight to see. As she got closer to maturity, she became more and more protective of me and my family. On Christmas Eve night, when I was five years old, a drunk man was trying to break into our back door. Lady woke my father up without barking or whining and lead him to the man without a sound. Only when dad started to react by calling the cops did she start to bark and growl. The next day, my dad went out and looked at the damage. The door was almost broke down and there were cracks all throughout the wood. If it wasn't for Lady waking dad up, who knows what would have happened to us.
Also when I was five, my brother Jorden was born. Lady loved babies and children. She took care of each one like they were a pup of her own. Kinda ironic since she was spayed and never had a liter. Jorden was still an infant when Lady saved someone's life yet again. He was in one of those baby swings while mom was doing kitchen work and dad was in another room. Lady was with him. All of a sudden, mom and dad hear this awful bark/yelp come from Lady and they turn the corner to see Jorden gasp for breath. Now, Jorden was a sickly baby with disabilities so it is very possible he had just randomly stopped breathing. He did this many times afterwards.
Lady knew this as well because she always wanted to be with him. She got worried when they put him in the crib and locked her out of the room. She would pace the house and whine and paw until they opened the door. Then, she would lay on the floor with her eye on him; all night long. Then, Michael was born.
She was the same way with Michael as she was with me and Jorden. However, she was most protective of me. I would take her out on walks and I swear to this day, and have witnesses to back me up, that every time we went to cross a street, she would look both ways. She looked for cars and sped up if she saw one coming. Another situation like this is when me and my family were hiking and I took off ahead. Lady was off leash, and before my dad could do anything, she ran ahead and stopped me. I was running straight towards a cliff down to a busy highway. Also, if we were going out too far while swimming at the lake, she would circle us until we grabbed her and she would pull us to shore. She felt like it was her duty to protect us 24/7/365.
Now, we got another dog, Sheaba. I will elaborate on her post. Let's just say Lady wasn't fond of other dogs but was willing to tolerate her since Michael loved Sheaba. During this time, once Sheaba was about 3 years old, we had another drunk try to get into our house. Lady and Sheaba were not gonna let this happen and were at the front door growling and barking. I am sure if this guy was sober, he would have thought it over. I mean, come on, two huge dogs acting like they were gonna eat you. I would back out, too.
As the years went past, her energy level and health stayed the same. She was an extremely healthy dog. In March or April of 2015, she started to slow down a bit and ever so slowly, starting eating less. We took her to the vet and got her back on track. She was doing perfectly fine until I left for my annual week at the fair two hours away. My father had said she was way more depressed than usual and hardly ate at all. I came home and she cheered up for a while. In early August, she stopped eating again. We took her in again, got her new food and meds. Things started to look good until she started to refuse her medicine and stopped eating. The only time she would eat anything, including chicken, was when I started to cry. Then, she would eat for me. In mid to late August, she started loosing weight. We were considering putting her down when, on the morning of the 31st, she gave me this look. We locked eyes and I knew. I said, "If you need to, go ahead. I'll let you." I reluctantly went to school that day. When I got home, she was doing alright but I knew something was off. I went to start my homework and my brother was saying he couldn't get her inside the house. By the time I got to the living room, she was inside. Then, she started to seize up. Mom was calling vets all around our area and trying to get a hold of my father. At 3:40 pm on August 31st of 2015, she passed in my arms; unfortunately, without the whole family there. She was trying to hold on for my father, I could feel it. He arrived at 3:43 pm.
RIP Lady
February 14, 2004 - August 31, 2015
I Still Look For You
When I wake, I expect you to be there
When I sleep, I dream of you
Looking in the halls,
Looking for your shadow
I still look for you
To hear your tags jingle
Would make me smile
I strain for that sound
But hear it no more
Your gentle touch
Your motherly love
Meant the world to me
I knew it wouldn’t last forever
But why so soon…
-written by me
I'll give her credit; she lived a lot longer than most Labs do. I do miss her still, and it was hard to write this, but worth it. John Grogan is right; they spend so much time waiting for us to come home and we only realize that when they are gone.
