"She-B My Dog" : A Dogs Journey of Love
Special animals have come into my life when I have needed them the most. Such was
the case of "She-B My Dog". She found me at a time when I needed the love and attention
of a furry friend.
I was ill from an accident in which I had chemical pneumonia and was very weak.
I knew it would take some time for recovery. I had always been an active person
so it was hard for me to be patient with myself. After being in bed for weeks I
had become depressed.
My husband Allen knew I needed a change and thought getting me outside would help.
We lived in the small town of Zephyrhills, Florida. There was going to be a parade
down town on Saturday and Allen decided that it would be a good outing for me. I
could sit on the downtown bench in the park and watch the parade. He would go to
Tampa to pick up some plants he needed. I had my cell phone, so if I got too tired
and could call him or a friend to come and get me.
It was a beautiful spring day and lots of people came out to enjoy it. After the
parade was over and most people had left the park I sat on the bench and enjoyed
the sunshine. Closing my eyes for a moment, I heard the voices of some children.
I looked up and saw 3 young girls pushing an old fashion baby carriage. They came
up to me and I saw two puppies in the carriage. The oldest of the girls, about age
10, said to me "Lady, will you please take one of our puppies? Our parents told
us not to come home until we gave them away." They were both so cute, that I could
not resist.
I have always believed that animals choose us, so I asked the girls to put the puppies
on the grass and I sat down. Both puppies climbed into my lap, but I knew I could
only take one home. I tried to call my husband Allen to ask him about getting another
dog for us as our small dog Muffy was about 15 years old and was ill and would not
be with us much longer. I could not get Allen on the phone, so I decided to choose
one of the puppies and surprise him. The puppies both looked alike and both liked
me. It was hard, but I picked one up and told the girls that I would take this one
home. They seemed happy and walked away pushing the carriage as the smallest of
the girls carried the other puppy.
As I sat down on the bench with my chosen puppy thinking about a name, the youngest
girl, about 4 years old, ran back with the other puppy in her arms and said, "Lady,
would you please take this puppy? That one is my favorite!"; so I exchanged the
puppy with her. As she ran back to her sisters, she turned around and said "We call
that one trouble!". What had I gotten myself into this time?
I knew Allen would be here soon to pick me up. The puppy got restless, so I put
her down on the grass behind the brick wall in the park. Allen pulled up in his
truck and came over to me .The puppy stayed behind the brick wall. I said “Hi honey;
I have a surprise for you behind the brick wall”. As he saw the puppy he said, "Mary,
we should talk about these decisions". He turned around and said "She is your dog!".
That helped me to name her "She-B My Dog" (She-B" for short). As soon as we got
into the truck, when She-B put her head on his knee and looked up at him with her
big brown eyes, she won him over and he fell in love with her too.
On Monday we took "She-B My Dog" to the vet. He looked her over and said that She
was healthy and would need her shots. We also found out that she was a mix of Rottweiler
and Chow and that her paws were large and she would grow into them. I had never
had a big dog before, so this would be a new experience for me. Having She-B took
my focus off of myself and being sick, to caring for her. I had to walk her several
time a day which got me stronger and I had her to keep me company while Allen worked.
Muffy, our older dog had been sleeping most of the time.
It was fun watching She-B and Muffy get to know each other. She-B as a puppy was
about the same size as Muffy. We saw Muffy come back to life with She-B, so I guess
it brought the puppy out in Muffy. Muffy stopped sleeping so much and wanted to
take part in raising She-B. Muffy was a mix of Yorkie and Lhasa Apso, so was a small
dog. She-B seemed to respect Muffy as the boss, and we saw an improvement in Muffy’s
health. She would be with us a while longer because of She-B.
At the time we lived in a community where they had a size limit for dogs. After
some people saw She-B, they knew she would become a big dog and they let us know
that we would need to move before she got big. I had lived in the country most of
my life, but Allen had grown up in Tampa, a large city. We started looking for a
place to live.
With She-B’s help and love my health had improved so much that I started looking
for a job as I needed to get back to work. While driving to a job interview one
day, I saw the perfect place for us and it was for sale. A beautiful house with
5 acres plenty of room for a large dog to run and live. I told Allen about it when
he got home from work and we went to take a look. Allen loved it as well.
We decided this was the place for us and were able to buy it with some help from
my uncle Pat. We moved quickly and loved our new home and so did our animals. She-B
could run and run without a leash. We had a basketball that I put in the yard for
her to play with and found out that she could play soccer. She would hit the basketball
with her chest and field the ball with her paws. There was a local paper that wrote
articles about special pets and I sent them the story of She-B playlng soccer and
they printed the story with a picture of She-B.
"She-B" had such a loving heart and showed it in so many ways. When She-B became
larger than her friend Muffy she would get on the floor as small as she could and
play with Muffy. Muffy taught She-B all her tricks and habits, like you should lay
down to drink your water and that you should move your mouth like you are talking
when you relieve yourself outside, and that you should always greet your people
at the door when they come home, as they may have something for you. They both ate
together from a large dish with two sides. When Muffy passed at 18 years old She-B
stopped eating for a few days. We had to get a new dish for her, and she missed
her friend Muffy's company. Muffy had lived 3 more years because of She-B friendship
and love. We buried Muffy in the back yard under a large tree with a headstone with
her name on it, which She-B went out to visit every day.
She-B decided that one of her jobs was to walk our land every morning and night
to make sure everything was ok. Allen would let her out each morning, and I would
walk with her at about 6:00 every night. We started calling it a "walk about'. She
knew what I meant when I would say “Let’s go for ‘a walk about’”. The only time
we did not go was when it was raining, as "She-B" did not like being out in the
rain, or the storms.
Of course living in Florida there are a lot of rain and storms. When it would storm
"She-B "always wanted to be as near to us as she could, sometimes laying between
us in our bed, so it was a good thing we had a large bed.
"She-B" was so smart, if I told her to go to the garage she would, or named a room
in the house she would go to that room. We had a special drawer for her treats and
she would sit and look at it until we gave her a chew bone. "She-B" had a way of
giving you a hug by putting her head against your leg and looking up at you with
her doggy smile.
Many people grew to love "She-B". At first they were afraid of her because of her
size and breed of dog, but once they got to know her, she won them over and they
would stop to see her. She would always let us know if a person was a good person
or not, and she was very protective of us. I always felt safe at home when Allen
had gone to a class or working at night.
I think animals have a unique connection with the people they love. Sunday was "she-b's"
special day with Allen. He would take her with him in his truck to get the Sunday
newspaper. As soon as Allen picked up his keys and change for the paper, she would
get so excited, she knew she was going for a ride with Allen. We would tease her
that she only wanted to go so she could look for "boys". She would look up at us
with her doggy smile as if to say "Sure, why not?".
I had Sunday and Monday off from work, and Monday became my day with "She-B". She
became so excited knowing I would be home all day with her. We would spend time
outside in the mornings before it got too hot. I would play with her for a while
and then she would watch over me while I did yard work. Before noon we would go
inside where we could both cool off.
"She-B" was a part of all of the areas of our life. When we were home she would
either be with Allen or me. If I was cooking eggs she knew I would cook some for
her. If we had a snack she knew she would get a chew bone. She would take turns
sleeping at the bottom of the bed at Allen's feet or at my feet, and she was always
at the door to welcome us home.
You would think with a name like "She-B" everyone would know that she was a girl
dog, but so many people thought she was a boy dog. Allen often said “How could they
think that; she walks like a girl”! "She-B" did have a way of walking like she was
wearing high heels on her back paws.
I cannot believe how the years flew by. Allen and I had been married for 10 years
in August 2010 and "She-B" had been with us for 9 of those years. About May of 2010
we started to notice a difference in "She-B's" walk. It looked like she had a limp,
as she was not putting much weight on her back left leg.
"She-B" had the hair of a chow dog, so I would take her to a groomer to cut her
hair shorter for the summer. When I picked her up at the groomer's, she said that
she thought that I should have "she-b"'s back legs checked at the vet; so I took
"She-B" directly to the vet's office. When we moved, we started taking "She-B" to
the Dade City Animal Clinic. Dr. Tyler's was very good with "She-B" and she liked
him.
Dr. Tyler examined "She-B"'s legs and did x-rays on both back legs. It seemed that
"She-B's" knees were bad in both of her back legs. Surgery was possible but would
cost a lot and might not fix the problem. Dr. Tyler gave "She-B" a shot for the
pain and some pain pills for me to give her at home. For the next 3 months we gave
"She-B" the pain medicine and antiinflammatories for the swelling. We thought she
was doing well till the day we came home and she could not walk. You could see how
much pain she was in and we had to make a decision, and it was one of the hardest
ones of both our lives. We had to love "She-B" enough to let her go.
We called Dr. Tyler and made arrangements for him to come to our home to help "She-B".
Allen and I got on the floor and held "She-B" in our arms and cried for over an
hour before the vet came. I held her in my arms as the vet gave her the last shot
that would end her pain. I cannot put in words the pain of letting our beloved friend
"She-B" go to dog heaven with her many friends. Allen made her a special place next
to Muffy and our cat, Geatin, who had passed. Allen made her a special head stone
with her name on it. We have a bench under that tree were we can go and talk to
our animal friends. Our house is so quiet now there seems to be a big empty space
where "She-B" filled our home. We miss her beyond words; but I feel her spirit here.
She still watches over us; and I feel her at the bottom of the bed each night and
she greets us when we come home. I know that "She-B" will always be a part of our
hearts.
This story was written in "She-B's" honor, as well as to ease some of the pain of
missing her.
Mary and Allen Maker, "She-B's" people.