Flag Day and a memory

Well today is Flag Day. It would have also been my mom's 72 birthday. Anyway I hope that you all do something special for Flag Day.



Earlier in the week, I was reading Dianne's blog. If you don't already read her blog, you should. She is funny, witty, serious and touches on subject's that really make you think. Plus if you are a cat lover, she has two very cute cats. I would say that they are almost as cute as my little ones. Sorry Dianne. Anyway, she made reference to a line from the movie Steel Magnolias. This brought back some fond memories and I thought I would share them. And yes it is about an animal. A very special dog this time.

(Shelby)

I lived in Cape May in apartment that didn't allow pets. This was the first time that I didn't have a pet in my life. One year my employer decided to close for the winter. Well shit. How would I make the rent. Living in a resort town did not afford many jobs in the winter. My mom had called and asked if I wanted to move next door in my Gram's house. She said all you would have to pay is the utilities and the taxes. She said that this would help her out too, not having to pay the extra. I told her I would have to think about this. Yes I had to think about this because 1- she was very controlling and 2 - my brother watched every move I made. I called her back a couple days later and told her I would move into the house with conditions. It would be my place. I would do what I wanted with my place. Danny was not allowed to spy on me. If I came home late, I didn't want to hear about it. She said that she agreed with those conditions. I said what about Danny? She said that he would mind his own business. So I moved in. After getting settled, I decided I wanted a dog. We had a lot of feral cats around and one that I called evil cat. She had blinded my moms dog and would hiss and growl every time I would go outside. I knew that this was one I had to get rid of. I called the SPCA and asked if they had traps that I could use for feral cats. They said they did. They said I would have to set up the traps and when I had a cat, call them and they would send someone to pick it up. I did. When I trapped evil cat I drove her myself. They weren't open yet, but I set her up under a nice shaded tree and left a note that I wouldn't be in need of the trap any more. When I was leaving, there were two guys that were just leaving their dog. She was a beauty. She was a husky-lab mix with the bluest eyes. One of her ears was ragged. I asked them what happened and they told me that her litter mate had chewed on her ear. I asked them why they were getting rid of her? They said that they found another place to live and they couldn't have animals. I went to work and couldn't get this dog off my mind. I called the SPCA and told them that I was down there this morning and two guys left a dog. The guy said he knew what dog I was talking about. I told him I would be there Monday to pick her up. I was there bright and early and brought her home. She was such a joy. She was about 25 pounds and very calm. I took her to the vet and was given a clean bill of health. On Sunday, I was awoken to her getting sick. Here she had been sick most of the night and I didn't hear her. She stayed outside most of the morning (her choice). I called my vet and got a machine that had a number to call. I called and my vet answered. I told him that Bear was very sick and needed help. He said to meet him at the office in a half hour. He examined her and said it didn't look good, but he would run some tests and make her comfortable. He called me later and told me she had parvo. Not ever hearing this, I went to the library. Oh shit. It didn't look good. The vet did everything he could, but it was to advanced for him to save her. He told me that the parvo virus lives outside the body and I wouldn't be able to get another dog for a least six months. I waited a year. I didn't want to go through that again. Within that year is when Steel Magnolias came out. I fell in love with the movie and more so the name Shelby. I told my mom that when I get a dog, her name will be Shelby. She, of course, thought I was nuts. Shelby was not a fitting name for a dog. She called me one Sunday morning and said she read in the paper about a black lab that was up for adoption. I called and the girl gave me directions. When I got there, there were four dogs in pens. The girl put them all on leashes and let them out. Three didn't give me the time of day, but the black lab, Shelby, came running up and wrapped her front legs around me. That was it. She was mine. The girl said she had to check us out before I could adopt Shelby. No worries. I knew she would be mine. She called a couple days later and said everything checked out fine and she would bring her home. The day arrived and was snowing badly. The girl called and said that she would still be delivering Shelby. She arrived around dinner time. When Shelby got into the yard, she just ran around like a lunatic and started catching snowflakes. We just stood there laughing at her. One thing I learned quickly about her is she loved food. I was eating pizza and she jumped up and took it right out of my hand. She didn't do that to often after that. The other things I learned about her is she always had to be near you and she always wanted to be in your lap. Which would have been fine if she wasn't over 50 pounds. My nerves were getting raw. I called my mom and said that I was taking her back. There was silence. She called back later that day and said "Would you mind if Danny and I took Shelby?" I said "not at all." I packed up her bones and next door she went. Our relationship bloomed after that. One thing she didn't like was water. A black lab that was afraid of water. Whenever I got out the hose, she ran. Giving her a bath was an adventure.

One weekend my mom called and said that Shelby couldn't get up. She had went out early in the morning and laid down. Now she can't get up. I went over and tried, but as much as she wanted to get up, she couldn't. Her back legs wouldn't work. Now the problem. It was a holiday weekend and a Sunday. We called a vet that was 45 minutes from us and they said bring her in right away. Danny pulled his car closer to her and I picked her up and put her in his car. When he got there, they brought a stretcher out. They did all sorts of testing and called with the results. Diabetes. After they got her sugar level under control, they sent her home with insulin and needles. So it began. She did well for many years after. Then one day, I went over and we were playing ball. I threw the ball and she couldn't see it. I took her to the vet and he said that because of the diabetes she developed cataracts. She was now blind and still we continued. Another thing about black labs is they are very smart. She learned stop, right and left. Whenever she would be to close to something we would say, "Shelby stop. Alright girl, go right." She would stop and go right. Another, I'll say, side effect to diabetes in dogs is, cushion's disease. Which she got. It just got to the point were more and more side effects would pop up. We tackled them as they came along. But then the diabetes started to take its toll on her kidneys. The time had come.

As it turned out, Shelby was a very fitting name for this black lab.

There are many funny stories I could tell about Shelby, but I have rambled enough. What I will say is, if anyone is interested in getting a dog, go with a black lab. You will never be sorry.