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One day, many years ago, I was at work and my son was at school. Sometime between 8 A.M. and 1 P.M. , someone broke into our home and took everything of value to us. It was very upsetting and I was frightened because I was afraid they would come back.
I expressed this to my Dad and he recommended that I get a dog that would guard the house. I had no idea where to start to find one and money was a problem also. He went to see my Uncle who raised German Shepherds and my Uncle gave me one.... a male which I named Buck.
I was still very afraid of another burglary. My Dad then told me I should have two dogs so they could back each other up in a tense moment. He again, went to see my Uncle and he gave me a female German Shepherd. I named her "Lady".
~BUCK AND LADY~
Lady was 3 months old when I got her. She was a very wild and rowdy puppy. I couldn't control her in any way. I wasn't prepared for her because getting her all happened so fast. I didn't have a pen or a chain... not even a leash. I knew I had to secure her in some way until she got use to her new home or she might run away. I put her inside the house when I went to work so she would be safe. When I got home that day, the house was a disaster. She had torn all the blinds off the windows, the stereo was toppled over on the floor.... well, you get the picture.
I knew she had to be put outside so I put her on a running cable where she could run from tree to tree. This gave her some freedom. After a while I was able to set her free and I knew she would stay here. Buck seemed to control her some. She had a few scars where he nipped her when she got too rough while playing with him. Lady had two habits right from the start. One was a fear of the sound of gunshots or fireworks popping. When she heard either one of those sounds, she would run and hide for a while or watch for a quick chance to run in the house. She was so afraid that she would shiver. I never knew what caused that fear but whatever it was, happened before I got her.
The other habit she had was howling when it was a full moon. All her life she did this. You could count on it. Everytime there was a full moon she would howl all night long. I never knew what made her do this either but it was just something I came to expect and learned to live with it. Sometimes it was hard to get some sleep to go to work the next day but I knew it was something she couldn't help doing for some reason.
There was a game she loved to play. She liked to play hide-and-seek. One of us would stay with her while the others went and hid. She had a terriffic sense of smell. They would hide up in trees and run around in circles all over before hiding to try to confuse her but not once did she fail to find them. She was very good at it and loved the game very much.
When Lady was just ten months old, she and Buck mated. I was excited at the thought of having puppies but I had no idea what an experience I was in for.
About two weeks after they mated, Buck became very strange and aggressive even toward us. To make a long and painful story short, Animal Control took him away from me and killed him because he bit a man who was mistreating him. That's another story. Soon the time came and Lady's puppies were born. They were born in an attached Garage with a window where we could see them being born from inside the house. We went in the garage from time to time to check on Lady and the puppies and Lady didn't mind at all. She had nine puppies.... eight black and tan and one solid white. The last black and tan puppy didn't make it.
~LADY'S FIRST PUPPIES~
She was such a good mother but she really had a hard time with eight puppies. I started to feed the puppies at a young age because Lady just didn't have enough milk.
I sold the seven black and tan puppies at the age of six weeks and kept the white one. The white one was a male and we named him Bear because he looked like a tiny little polar bear.
Needless to say, Bear got almost all the attention around here, being a puppy and so cute too. I guess it's natural for a male to be the head of things but it wasn't long before Bear started to control Lady. He didn't want us paying any attention to her and would interfere when we did. He bit her many times in the face when he didn't like something she was doing.
Lady was very gentle and friendly and would not hurt anyone. Being a German Shepherd though, strangers were afraid of her. One day her eye began to get very infected and medication wasn't helping. I took her to the Vet again and he decided to sedate her and do exploratory surgery. He found that she had been hit in the head with something like a baseball bat and had a cracked skull above her eye. Their was a piece of bone floating around under the skin and had no way out. It was removed and she got better. Hitting and hurting her was so unnecessary because she wouldn't hurt anyone but being strangers, they didn't know.
She did watch over her puppies to protect them though, even after Bear was grown. She tried to "mother" everything. I've seen her protect a turtle from Bear until it got to a safe place, and many other things. I've seen her sit and watch a rabbit eating six feet away from her and didn't bother it.
~LADY & BEAR GETTING A SNACK~
Exactly a year after her first litter of puppies were born, Lady had her second litter. This time though, she had mated with a pure blooded red Chow.
They were precious.... they were very furry and fluffy. Again, she had had nine puppies and again she had eight assorted colors and one white one. I carefully selected good homes for them and gave away eight of them. There was one female that was so much more affectionate than the others so we kept her. We named her Sugar and we still have her. After this litter of puppies was born, I decided that I couldn't go on dealing with puppies every year and I didn't want Lady to go through any more hardships so I had her fixed.
My son had become so attached to Bear. Bear was his constant companion.... it was like his child. One day my son moved out and could not bear to part with Bear so I let him take him with him to his new home.
When he moved out, I was all alone. Lady was my protection and guarded the house all night every night and slept during the day. She wore paths all around the house and to each corner of the yard from guarding. You could easily see her paths worn in the grass. We live in the country and have packs of Coyotes that try to come on the property. She kept them away and never let them even get close to the yard. Being alone now, she was my only companionship. Everywhere I went in the yard, she would follow me. If I sat down, she would sit on my feet... as close as she could get. If I was doing something, she would sit a few feet away and watch. When I came home, she would be waiting at the road and follow the car to the drive. When I got out of the car, she was so excited to see me and licked my hands and legs. I became more and more attached to her.
Her eating habits were different than some. She loved lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, peas,.... just about anything. When she was given a snack near the front door, she would carry some of it to Sugar out in the back yard.
She never used the bathroom in the yard. She went out in the pasture or on the road. It was as if she was trying to keep the property clean for her puppies.
Time passed and then I met Lloyd on the internet. After meeting in person, he decided to move here in Louisiana. He came to love Lady as I did and she became attached to him too. When he was out in the yard, she followed him and watched as he worked. If he went out to his shop to work, she went in with him and rested because it was cool. She was very good with small children. We knew we could trust her completely. Even if they got rough with her, we knew she would never hurt them. If it got too rough, she would just move to another spot. I've seen my Grandchildren as toddlers, lay on top of her or use her for a pillow. She loved it and viewed it as it was.... affection. ~ MY LADY ~
As you can see in the photo above, she had lost alot of weight and she was getting alot more grey in color. She was aging and I had to except it.
There came a time when I noticed that she was laying to rest more often but I knew she was getting older and it was summertime so I accepted it.
Suddenly one day, she stopped eating completely. She would only drink a little water. When she walked, which wasn't much, she was very unsteady and stopped to rest often. I wanted to bring her to the Vet but my Son said "Mom.... she's old now and you must accept that she won't last long". She was 10 years old.
I knew if I brought her to the Vet, he would put her to sleep and I was afraid they would want to dispose of her themselves. I did not want it to be that way. She was like a member of my family. After four days she still wasn't eating. I told my Mom that day that I didn't feel that Lady would last much longer. I think my Mom thought I was exaggerating.
The next morning my Son came by for something and I asked him if he saw Lady anywhere around. It was very early and I myself had not gone outside yet. Truthfully, I was afraid to so he said he would look for her.
Soon he came to the door to tell me he had found her out back......... SHE WAS GONE.
~ DEC. 1989 - OCT. 2000 ~
In Loving Memory Of " LADY " 1989-2000 .... Rest in peace my faithful pet. Don't ever think I will forget, you filled my life with happiness all the years I had you with no regrets.... I loved you more than words can say, but GOD came to take you far away. We will meet again my friend....When it is time for me to join my faithful friend.... Now rest in peace and have a ball for GOD protects us one and all. When my turn comes to be with you, stand by those gates to lead me through.... "LADY"
1989-2000
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