"Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!"
"There's a 30% chance it's already raining."
"But I can't help it that I'm popular."
One of my favorite things about coming home was having you greet me and follow my car all the way to where I would park. It always put a smile on my face to see you greet me. I would give anything for you to bark and happily chase me on my way home.
You were always an active dog. When I was younger, and let's be honest even when I was in my 20's, you would drag me around with the amount of energy and strength you had. You loved sniffing around and going on adventures. Even though you made our nice gentle walk into a run, I'd love to spend an afternoon of walking, adventures, and of course being pulled around.
Being such an active dog, you never ceased to amaze us with your abilities. One of the things I will never forget and to be honest would love to see again, is you being able to jump into the bed of our trucks while the tailgate was still up. It was hard watching as you got older seeing your strength and agility decrease, I know you are jumping over 8-foot tall fences like Colton Underwood.
I don't like being jumped on by dogs because of an experience I had before we had you, but you loved to jump on people as you met us. Being up close and personal was your forte, and now with you gone, I would love to be jumped on and be face to face with you.
Even in your sleep you were an active dog, and it always made my heart happy to see you asleep with your legs moving like you were running. Thinking about it now makes me smile.
Taking you to training school could only be described as interesting. With your stubborn personality and nervousness around other dogs, obedience training was hard work. As you got older, some of the tricks you were taught faded, except to be able to sit on command. I would love to go back in time to go through those tricks and spend the extra time with you.
You would listen to me when I had a treat in my hand, and I know how much you loved to catch them in the air. Being able to have you sit and feed you a treat would give me just as much happiness those treats gave you.
You enjoyed riding in vehicles, from our trucks to our side-by-side ATVs. The one thing you had to do though, no matter how big or small the vehicle was, was stand on someone's lap and stick your head out the window. Even though it hurt my legs when your nails dug into me, I would gladly let you stick your head out the window.
Playing fetch with you was a challenge—when you were younger if we would throw a ball or frisbee to you. You would retrieve it, but then we would spend more time trying to get whatever we threw at you back because you didn't want to let go. But being able to see you with that much energy again would bring a smile to my face as I got in an arm workout for the day.
Besides running around outside, you always loved just to chill in the breezeway. I always wonder what you thought about when you sat there by yourself for hours. Sometimes when I look through the glass door into your sacred place, I hope you are there.
You sneaking into the house might have made my mom mad, but seeing you sneak around as you would crawl on your belly and be quiet as possible could make anyone giggle. Then add in the fact of you hiding underneath our dining room table always made the moment even more comical.
You and I have one thing in common: a love for cheese. It would bring me joy to bring you joy by throwing you a slice of American cheese for you to snack on.
You might have not always smelled the best, but being able to hug you one last time would be like a cuddle to my heart.
Your birthday is on the 4th of July, which fits perfectly since you had such a firecracker personality. Buying a hamburger and putting a candle in it for your birthday always just felt so natural to celebrate you. We had you for 14 years, and you were a year old when we adopted you. It would have meant the world to me to see you with your birthday burger for your 16th birthday.
Corrine Harding
Whenever we would turn the camera to you, you always seemed to stop what you originally doing and look away from us. Though when we did get a good photo of you, you were posing and ready for it. You always knew your best angle and the best way to the photo 10 times better.
Honestly, I think this list could go on forever. No matter how long I had with you, it would never be enough. Losing a pet isn't an easy thing to go through, and there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about you and what I would do if I had one more day or even just a few more minutes.
