remember when Shadow...

(I think this will be the last Shadow post.  With new pup moving in, I just haven't been able to get to all of this and think about it for longer than it takes for him to need to pee again, which is like 10 minutes.)

When we were saying good-bye to Shadow, David started telling "remember when" stories.  I should have written them down right away as I know I've already forgotten a lot of it.  But, here are a few:

Remember when Shadow:

*got sprayed by a skunk and had to be quarantined?  That was funny AND sad.   It was our first year in MA.  We were sitting in the kitchen/dining room with the back window open.  The dogs were outside and all of a sudden, the house filled with the smell of skunk.  Instantly, we knew what we would open the door to find.  Shadow was at the door with her eyes barely open, looking very worried and if a dog's face can cringe, hers did.  She was clearly disgusted with her situation as she was soaked in skunk spray, face first.  We washed her for days.  Our house smelled bad for months.  The skunk had scratched her on the neck, causing an infection, causing a vet visit, causing an in-home quarantine for rabies (since they had current rabies vaccines, the dogs were not taken from us as long as we promised to keep them in the house except to go potty on leash for 45 days and not let them interact with anyone or anything.  It was a long 45 days.)

(on an unrelated note, if you click on that link - remember when my blog posts were ONE paragraph and ONE picture?  I think I need to go back to that.  This is getting to be a lot of stuff!)

*had her own song?  Blink 182:  All the Small Things.  She was in the car as a puppy one day when the song came on and we decided it fit her bouncy personality.  Every time since, when I hear that song, I think of Shadow.

*even though Velvet was the alpha dog in the house, whenever we were with other dogs, Shadow tried to be the alpha over them?  She knew she couldn't compete with Velvet, but everyone else was under her rule.  She especially liked to give Max and Sneakers a hard time at their own houses.

*trapped a baby fox and barked like crazy to tell us that she had found a friend!  She was so disappointed when we let it get away.

*used to chase squirrels until we thought we'd have to pay for knee surgery (we knew other dogs who had blown their knees out chasing squirrels.)  oh, and swimming after ducks in our yard when the rain storms lasted so long that our yard became one giant pond.

*could jump into the back of our truck with the tailgate shut!  She would leap over the back of it without touching it.  I always wished I had a horse who could move like she could.  She was so beautiful to watch as she ran or jumped.

Shadow dog, I am missing you a lot right now as I take care of your "baby brother."  I'm sure you would have LOVED playing with him.  He likes to do all the same things you like, especially chase games.  You two would be able to chase each other for hours.  He also dreams like you and sticks his tongue out when he sleeps, just like you used to.  And, just like you, he can't catch anything in his mouth to save his life, nor does he fetch.  He will do exactly what you used to, he runs after the ball and gets it, but has no interest in bringing it back for another throw.   Velvet would have her paw on her forehead in embarrassment.
I chose him because he didn't remind me of you, but he managed to do it anyway.

Well, those are all the ones I can think of for now.  If anyone else has any "remember Shadow" stories, feel free to post in the comments.