My original thought after writing part one, was to take a week to process our loss and to make a running list of all the funny, happy things I could remember about my sweet girl. Like most things that I 'plan' it didn't work out the way I had hoped and we got a whole other pile of crap dumped on us just before I got busy with it. There are family things that I won't go into BECAUSE THAT WOULD REQUIRE A WHOLE NEW POST. Moving on. One of the big things was Mark's thumb. It was still really bothering him on Monday so he went to the doctor. As it turns out, his thumb was not "totally fine" as I reported before. The bones were actually bruised. Though the doctor did commend us for how clean the wound was, because he had absolutely no infection. (They gave him an antibiotic, anyway.) SO. They actually put him in a half cast (one you can remove so you can clean wounds underneath), wrapped him up in an ace bandage and out him out of work for three days. The man drove me nuts. When Mark is at home, he likes to DO things. (Have you ever seen a post more littered with CAPITOL LETTERS than this one? I think not.) Anyway, he was stir crazy and I felt guilty that I didn't take him to the ER over the weekend. So for three and a half days I tried to entertain him. I had no luck. We mostly watched movies and stayed up late. On Thursday, he went back to the doctor and they told him no work until he had a follow up with our family doc. His follow up was today and they've put him in a NEW brace that looks very Forrest Gump. So Sexy.
With all that, and the family BOMB, the wedding I photographed Friday and a host of other things. I have barely found time to eat and shower let alone mourn my poor dog. I'd like to think it's a good thing, that I'm being shown that life does go on, but I'm a little bitter. Not at Mark of course, but with other things that are once again out of my control. Grrrr.
So here is what I can come up with off of the top of my head about my sweet girl. to be the remedy to the "bad" post...
Mark and I found Saber at East Town Mall. "How much is that doggie in the window?", I remember asking Mark. We got the guy to get her out for us and we went into that teeny, tiny room with a bench barely big enough for one person, let alone two and a puppy, to play with her. She was so sweet. Still a puppy, she was fuzzy. And she enjoyed chewing on Mark's shoelaces and biting my fingers. She had the most exquisite puppy breath and I remember telling her so. She licked my face and then bit my ear. I was sold. Mark was not. We left without her that day and for several days I bugged him and bugged him to please, please, please go back and get that doggie in the window. At the time, we lived with his parents and he didn't think they would let us get a puppy, but I had other ideas. I talked up her cuteness to his mom and dad. Didn't work. I told them I would pay for her. Didn't work. I was getting discouraged and finally starting to accept defeat when Mark and his dad brought her home the next day. I was so shocked... my window doggie!! Excited didn't cover what I was and it was the total opposite of what Saber was. She was terrified. She crawled under a bench and wouldn't come out for days after we brought her home. I guess living behind glass for part of your life will do that to you. Sensory overload must suck. The first night she was with us, we made her a bed in our room and fell asleep. A little while later we were cleaning up poop. Then pee. Then poop again. How much poop could one dog hold?????? It was a long night, but a bonding one as well. We still laugh when we talk about it.
Another great memory of Saber is when she had a litter of puppies. She had them in the backseat of my car on the way to Kingston. Poor old girl. It was this same litter that we kept Bruiser from. Saber was such a good mother. She was super tolerant of all the crazy fools we brought up to see her and the new puppies. She would corral them when a storm came and curl her self in a circle around them. And when all of the other puppies were gone, she continued to look after Bruiser for the rest of her life. Bruiser still hasn't recovered from losing Saber. She's not eating well and cries to be inside with us all the time. It speaks volumes to the kind of mother Saber was. Saber made a great grandmother, too. When Bruiser had her first litter, Saber laid right next to the whelping box while Bruiser labored. She was older when Magoo was born, but she didn't mind him snuggling her when no one was looking.
Saber loved to run. It was actually a JOY when we bought this house because she was finally going to be able to run free. The two houses we lived in before had no fence she she had to be tied out when she went outside. We made a big deal of it, taking her in on a leash to the yard. When we let her loose she took of like a cannon and wouldn't come in for two whole days. She LOVED it.
Saber also loved cats. Well, kittens really. Twice we kitten-sat for friends and she was happy to let them make biscuits on her belly as long as they were content. She tried giving the kittens a bath too, but was vehemently rejected on both counts.
Saber really loved babies, though. When Mark's cousin Logan was born, his Aunt brought him out to the house. She laid him down on the bed for a nap and Saber laid at the foot of the bed, on the floor, while he slept. Every time one of us would come in to check on the baby, she would inspect us closely while we did it, just to make sure he was alright. When Logan got a little older, we would sit him in his carrier in front of the TV and he would laugh. Saber laid right next to the carrier, watching him carefully. When he cried she would lick his feet. If that didn't cheer him up, she would nervously come find one of us and "woooo" until we came and got him. That is quality babysitting, 'yo.
I could tell so MANY stories about how awesome she was...the memories are really flowing now.
-When Josh Jackson died, she crawled into my lap (she was still small at that time) and licked the tears from my face.
-When my dad died, she spent two days in bed with me. I don't think she even left to eat or pee.
-When Ryan got big enough, She let him roll around on top of her without complaint.
-When Mark got the Flu, she kept a watchful eye on him and alerted me when he moved. : )
-When Mark was in the knee stabilizer, she laid with him for days on end watching movies and eating bits of sandwich and cheeseballs.
-When Mark and I went on vacation and left her with a sitter she didn't like, she peed on our bed. (So sweet.)
-When Mark's dad pissed her off, she would shit IN his shoes. Or right in front of the door to their bedroom.
-When she got up in the mornings, she was very vocal. If you talked to her, she would "wooooo" right back at you. She was so funny.
-She hated a bath. WITH PASSION.
-She LOVED bacon.
-She could shake with both paws, sit and lay down. She learned it all in one day and decided that would be all she learned. I so with I had started with STAY.
-She loved to ride in the car.
-She loved Frosty Paws.
-She LOVED snow. Though we get precious little of it here in East Tennessee, when we did get some, she would act like we had called, had it delivered just for her, and then added bacon flavoring to it. She ate it, she rolled in it, She shoved her nose down into it and threw it into the air. She even SLEPT in it. That dog LOVED snow.
-She was our FIRST everything. Before buying a house, before getting married, before joint checking accounts, before we bought a car. She was the first thing Mark and I ever did together. She was so special to us. So important. So LOVED.
We miss her, but she's here in the backyard anytime we want to visit. I even painted a rock for her graveside to mark it. She was SUCH A GOOD DOG.
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