wild roses on the riverbank, it's almost like you're there.

"What I really want to say was how this animal has touched our souls and taught us some of the most important lessons in our lives."

I don't know how old i was, but I couldn't have been over 5.

"Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole."

Mamma & Daddy told me to get in the car, we were going to get a puppy. I was overjoyed. I couldn't WAIT to have a puppy at my house to play with! So, we headed down the street in the Cadialac. We got the puppy, and headed back home. I can vaguely remember this, but I have seen it in pictures, I would lay in the floor with that precious puppy, and she would sleep in the clothes basket. We'd take her outside, and bring her in. She was part of the family. She knew she was too. Smart as a whip, she was.

"If you want a friend for life, get a dog."

My daddy's told me before that a man usually has one really great dog that they own in their lifetime. He told me it was Sarge (a dog that was basically his child, too). This one, though, was a brilliant dog. She had a wonderful personality. She was laid back & she was sweet to everyone. She could fetch a dove, and she was good at it. I always enjoyed her being with us on those morning dove hunts, and she always loved going. She respected my daddy almost as much as I do (I would say, no kidding!) She was outstanding.

"Yes, it was only a dog, and dogs come and go in the course of human life, sometimes simply because they became an inconvenience. It was a dog, and yet every time I tried to talk about him to them, tears welled in my eyes."

Saturday afternoon, we had been in Columbus all morning, and we came home.
"Your daddy's here." -Mamma
"oh, okay." -me.
Not really unusual, I was thinking, but then again, he usually finds a project on Saturdays.
"It looks like someone's been driving in the yard." -Mamma
[then there was a pause, before she said..]
"Oh, Julianna, I wonder if Suzie died."
So, I walked down to her pen, and Ruger was there. Marlee was beside him in the next pen, but there was no sign of Suzie's life in that pen anymore. Only flattened hay, where her frail body would sleep at night.
I looked up at Mamma & shook my head.

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring -- it was peace."

"I'm so sorry about Suzie." -Mamma said to Daddy when we walked in.
"What'd Ruger do?" -she said.
"He wanted to go with me to take her to be buried." -Daddy.

"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

My daddy has also told me before that you make an impact on a dog. Everytime you talk to them, love them, play with them, it MEANS something to them. My belief (and yes, be glad to call me brainwashed) ..well, i believe they remember that. Why else would they be so excited as to see you? Why would their face light up the moment you speak to them? Call me crazy, but my dog knows who you are, and she knows her past with you (:

"Dogs are a man's best friend."

She will be missed, but aren't they all? It was her time, and she's better off.

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself."