Rest in Peace, Old Girl...

One of Oliver's oldest friends, Shelby, has passed on. Shelby was the weimaraner of our friends Julie & Steve. She and Oliver go way back. They became friends when Oliver was just a small puppy and they shared countless good times together over the years. She was 11 1/2 years old and had a rare form of cancer, so Julie and Steve made the difficult decision to put her down. I know from our experience with losing Oliver last Christmas, it is one of the hardest decisions a pet owner will ever make, but it is usually the right one.

I was thinking back over the last decade on all those dogs have been through with us. All the walks we took together, the nights spent sitting on my front porch, drinking wine with our dogs by our sides, all the times those two independent, curious little buggers would go off roaming in the neighborhood with us left driving around and calling their names out the car window. Ollie loved to go to Shelby and Spencer's house because unlike our house, dogs were allowed to lounge on the sofa, as they should be! There were so many rides in the car, camping trips, trips to Tanner's Apple Orchard, Bark in the Park and even Shelby's birthday party. Not many dogs can say they've had their own party complete with party guests! Our dogs had a great life that most dogs could only dream of. I like to think that we brought just as much joy to their lives as they did to ours.

I told Julie that the first few days will be the toughest. It is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Eventually the pain subsides and it feels good to tell stories and think about them. I took Oliver's name tag and his St. Francis medal from his collar and hooked them on my keychain. That way, everytime we go for a ride, he is going with us in a way. I especially like looking at his medal on my keys because I know it protected him on all of his excursions and brought him home safely to us. Julie will find her own ways to remember and honor Shelby's life.

Shelby was a wonderful dog and she provided great companionship to Julie, Steve and Spencer, her doggy brother. Now Shelby and Oliver are reunited. I'm sure they are up there roaming the "neighborhoods" of doggy heaven together, where rawhide bones and bacon rain down from the sky, leashes don't exist and there are endless trash cans to sniff and bushes and fire hydrants to be marked.

Shelby, when you see Ollie man, give him a kiss for me and tell him I miss him more than he will ever know.

Rest in Peace, Old girl...