Our beloved Sandy died this week. We are devastated! Since I keep this blog for the girls I am going to share some of our favorite things about Sandy because one day they will enjoy remembering. Some of you may wonder why I would spend so much time writing about a dog. To us, though, she was never just a dog. She was a part of the family.
I remember when we got Sandy, almost 12 years ago. She was around 2 at the time ( a guess because she was a stray). Bret and I were in Stamford, a tiny dirt town were he grew up. He was playing basketball at a park with a friend, and I was sitting on a park bench watching him. It was then that I noticed this group of boys chasing a little white dog. She wouldn't let anyone get near her, and upon closer inspection, I wasn't sure who would want to. She was filthy, covered in fleas and ticks, and her eyes were matted closed. However, after watching these kids making a game out of chasing her, I was starting to feel really bad for the dog. I guess she sensed it because that was the moment she decided to jump into my lap and hide her face under my arm. Bret looked at me and said "we are not putting that dog in our car!" I think you know who won that argument. :)
So Sandy came home with Bret and I on the pretense that we would find her a home. We were newly married, and after a trip to the groomers and several trips to the vet to get her back in shape, we were in love. Sandy became our first baby. She was sweet, affectionate, and (despite her size) very courageous. We have more than one funny story of Bret flying out of bed and running for his pistol because Sandy was barking ferociously at the end of our bed trying to protect us from whatever noise she heard. She physically attacked the vacuum cleaner every time I used it, and would come close to breaking her teeth on the car window trying to bite trucks that drove past us on the road. The only time she was afraid was when it thundered, and then her only comfort was to be touching someone in the family.
She had her world rocked each time we brought another baby home from the hospital, but she always adapted well and learned to love them. They became her napping buddies when they were small and her playmates as they grew older. One of her favorite things to do was to ride in the car, especially if we were picking the girls up from school. She would search all the kids till she found hers and you always knew when that was because she would let out a little yelp. The day we brought Huck home, she was not nearly as pleased, but she even learned to love him! At least once a day, she would stopped being queen bee of the Moon family pets, and play with him. He loved her, and it was so funny to watch a 15 pound dog and a 60 pound Boxer wrestle. Her best move was to swing her body around and hit him with her butt, knocking him off his feet. Even when he got way to big for this to work, she would still try it.
When she got sleepy, she loved being rocked, and would sleep right up against me at night, even under the covers if it was cold enough. She greeted us every morning by crawling up to our pillows and laying her head on our face or neck to get us to rub the inside of her ears. Anytime we got home, no matter how short our time away, she was at the door barking and yelping to greet us.
She was spoiled rotten but brought our family so much joy and companionship! We miss her terribly.
