She'd never done anything like that before. She would bark like crazy whenever anyone came to the door. But if she could just get a chance to get a whiff of whoever was there, she was perfectly happy. She really liked just about everybody she met.
She loved being with her family. She wanted to always be wherever we were. She would whine like a baby if any of us went outside without her. She would lie down in front of the door at night until everyone was home. But her favorite person of all was Daddy. She would just go nuts when she heard his truck coming up the street, then hurl herself off the porch to greet him as he got out of the truck.
She was often a pain, though...barking when we didn't want her to, pushing open the screen door to chase a cat down the street, not coming when she was called, shedding her hair all over the house, getting on our bed when we weren't home. But she was a good dog. She loved sleeping with the kids, and they loved playing with her. She was getting really good at catching a frisbee. She love wrestling with Jim. She loved the snow. It was so entertaining to watch her catch snowballs and run with her snout down in the snow like a snowplow. She would bark at the snow shovel and loved to have the snow thrown on her.
So, anyway, we took her to a shelter where we were assured that they would find a good home for her. Likely a place where she can run around and maybe chase a few sheep. We could have kept her, but we could no longer trust her. We had always told people that she would never bite anyone. We couldn't do that anymore. We didn't want to take the chance that it would happen again and face the option of putting her down.
We are all very sad now. I got teary-eyed all day today wondering how she is doing and wondering how long it would be before she forgets us and learns to love a new family.
But on the flip-side, the kids are already asking me: "What are we going to name our new dog, Mom?"
