Saturday, May 22, 2010

Tribute to Josie


Dear Josie,

As we write this, we still hope that we will wake up tomorrow and you will be at the back door, wagging your tail, and this whole tragedy will be one bad dream. We want you to know how much you were loved and that you will always have a place in our hearts- you brought us so much joy during the two short years you were with us. We laid you to rest in Harmontown; it seemed only fitting to take you back to the place where you loved to run free chasing birds, swim in the pond, and take walks with us. At the head of your grave we planted a Lorapetalum bush, the shrub that you would always take a bite out of as you walked past it! We miss you so much- you were the "sunshine" of the household. Below Angela has listed all the little things that remind us of you and bring us joy when we think of them. You are and always will be our "sweet girl."


We love you always,

Preston and Angela



-Josie and Samson slept locked in their crates at night in our bedroom. Lately when Preston wasn't home at night, I would close her crate door, but not lock it. That way, in case someone broke in she could get out of her crate and maybe help defend me. Well, at some point during the night she would sneak out of her crate and sleep out on floor of the bedroom. She didn't know that I knew. And every morning when my alarm would go off, or when I would sit up in bed, she would jump up like lightning and run and get back into her crate! Like I wouldn't see her!


-Every day, when I would go into my closet to put on my shoes she would always stand and wag her tail at me and her tail would hit all my skirts hanging there and make them swing on their hangers.


-She laid on my feet as I blow dried my hair every morning and followed me around so closely that if I suddenly stopped she would bump into my legs. She was my precious little shadow.


-She was very vocal and talked to me (whined and cried) whenever she wanted something.


-She wasn't allowed on the couch, but when Preston wasn't there, she would put half her body up there and lay on my lap (keeping her bottom legs standing on the floor.)


-When Preston and I would be watching tv and not giving her attention, she would go stand in front of our front door and peer at us through a potted plant on the floor, like she was spying on us.


-She loved Samson so much and was always protective of him. When he would get in trouble, as I would scold him, she would put herself in between me and him, and try to take his punishment. She would sit beside me as I gave him his baths and watch every move I made. When I blow-dried his hair, she would lay on the floor next to my legs and prop her head on my knee and just watch me dry him.


-She gave me "mean" looks when Preston would hug or kiss me (she was jealous!)


-She shuffled her feet around the house as she walked around and always carried one of her favorite toys in her mouth.


-She LOVED to play ball or frisbee.


-She loved to go on walks.


-We went on a walk every afternoon when I got home from work and as we walked by a certain bush in our yard (lorapetalum), she would chomp off a big bite of it and eat it.


-She LOVED to swim.


-She LOVED to run and she was really, really fast.


-She loved everything and everyone actually.


-She never, ever had a bad day and was always happy and excited about everything. (Except the time she had an allergic reaction to her rabies vaccine and her face swelled up and she looked like a Shar Pei...that was the only time I can remember her not being happy.)


-All she wanted was to please us and was always very obedient.


-She loved her back yard and would sit on the highest part of it (we called it her "pride rock") and just survey her yard. When we would let her out sometimes, she had a distinct path she jogged around the perimeter of the yard, behind our hydrangea, every time. It was like clockwork.


-When I infringed upon her back yard and planted tulip bulbs and pansies, she dug up the bulbs and ate them and ate all the pansies. She literally plucked the flowers off the tops of all the stems!


-When Preston was working on putting the french drain the back yard and had been digging a trench, one day after it rained we came home to find a brown Lab instead of a white one! And whenever there was a puddle of water in the yard, she would always run and splash straight through it. :)


-She loved to chase birds.


-She would walk right next to Preston the whole time as he mowed the grass in the back yard. Back and forth. Back and forth.


-She always barked at and bit the vacuum cleaner and the swiffer as I cleaned the floors


-She loved to play tug-of-war with Samson and they would bark at each other as he chased her around the house. Samson would growl at her if she got too close to him while he was chewing on a toy and she would turn her head away but keep her eyes on him in case he lunged at her. I can still see her eyes averted on the side of her head :)


-She knew how to fetch, "sit," "lay down," "stay," come," "go get your toy," "drop it," "leave it," "kennel up," and "shake."


-Whenever she wanted your attention, she would come over and sit in front of you and put her paw up on your leg. That or stand in front of you and lay her head on her lap and turn those big, sweet, brown eyes up at you.


-She used to "nibble" on us in the sweetest, gentlest way while we were playing.


-She loved to chomp on ice cubes.


-She snored ever so slightly at night, especially after a hard day of playing.


-She and Samson would politely take turns nibbling the core of an apple after Preston finished it. He would go back and forth between them and they always patiently waited their turn. Samson would go crazy on it, but Josie always nibbled back and forth like it was an ear of corn.


-She loved to catch popcorn in the air as Preston tossed it to her.


-She would lay on her back in the middle of the floor and hold up her toy between her paws and chew on it.


-When she was a little puppy, she would run and slide under the couch to get away from Samson who was chasing her. She wasn't able to do that for very long. She grew so fast!


-She would "rabbit run" when she got really fired up about something and run around so fast with her tail between her legs and her ears laid back on her head.


-She didn't have a mean bone in her body. Big dogs would pick on her at the dog park and she would always just turn the other cheek to them and lay down and surrender.


-She loved us so much and was so loyal. Even when she was a puppy. One night after we got her, we let her out in the back yard, forgetting the gate was open. When we realized it about 10 minutes later, we panicked because she didn't have a collar on. We ran to the front door to run out in our neighborhood to look for her, and there she was sitting on our front door step! She never dreamed of running away.


-Also as a puppy we could take her on walks around our culdesac without a leash and she would walk directly in between Preston and me the whole time.


-She LOVED to eat and would inhale her food in record time, without chewing it. She did the same to treats. Would just swallow them whole.


-When I would put her food in her bowl, if I told her to "leave it" she would sit and wait for me to say "ok" before she would eat. She would drool the whole time. :) I never made her wait more than a couple of seconds.


-She loved to chew on rawhides. She never buried her bones, she always chewed them immediately.


-I never thought I'd miss this, but I do. She shed pretty badly and her hair would form "tumbleweeds" on the floor in our house.


-She was the messiest drinker EVER, and would drip water all over the kitchen floor, after splashing it all around and out of her bowl. I will miss cleaning up her water messes.


-She loved to ride in the car and stick her head out the window. She was always up for an adventure. :)


-She loved all other dogs, except Daschunds. She hated Daschunds. Not in a violent way, but she would always bark and growl at them like crazy.


-She would "heel" while Preston had a treat in his hand, but as soon as she took it, she would start pulling ahead on her leash again.


-If you warned her to "take it like a good girl" before giving her a treat, she would gingerly take it from your fingers.


-When she heard or saw something outside the front door window, she would raise up on her back legs like a bear and look out. Every time she would bark, she would shake her head. We think her bark vibrated her ear drums and tickled them and that's why she did that.


-She LOVED her Chuck-It and when she would see one of us get it from the garage, she would start jumping like a kangaroo all the way to the front door to go out and play with it. It was the one thing that she loved so much that it made her "exercise induced collapse" condition appear. I had to make her take frequent breaks to get a drink of water. I would lead her to her water bown and tell her to "get a drink." After she had one or two drinks and was ready to start playing again, she would put her paw in the bowl and splash the water out everytime I told her to get a drink. She knew she needed to do something with that water!
 

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