Sheba . . . Wonder Dog!

We lost our Sheba two weeks ago today. After learning that she had cancer, we authorized the vet to do surgery. When he did his exploratory work, he found that the cancer had spread from her spleen throughout her body. There was nothing that could be done to save her. Sheba came into our family one Spring day in 2004. Steve had read on-line about a rescue group in Denton that had German Short-Haired Pointers. I didn’t even know about that breed, so I was open to checking it out. He drove up on his day off and took our younger daughter with him. He had a list of 3 dogs from the rescue center’s website that he wanted to meet. Sheba was not on the list. After seeing one or two of the dogs on his list, our daughter said, “Steve, look at this one. Isn’t she cute?” Sheba immediately turned her attention from Sara to Steve, as if to ask, “Oh, are YOU the decision-maker?” He was instantly smitten with her and he began to rub her ears and interact with her soft and sweet personality. That night, he asked me if I would go with him the next day and meet Sheba. When we drove up, I saw a house, sitting on acreage and lots of dogs running around a fenced yard. Then, I saw her. There was a huge, square picture window and a dog peered out, as if she were smiling to greet an old friend. “That’s her,” said Steve, as we walked up. As we entered the house (the lady had given the dogs the run of the place!) I saw a chair and as I contemplated whether to sit or not, Sheba came up and jumped on me and I sat down, with her in my lap in an instant. She worked her way into my heart immediately. She was sweet, gentle and had these piercing eyes that looked right into my soul. She said, “Love me and I’ll love you back.” Steve and I walked out to the truck to get his check book and she not only followed us, but also jumped up into the truck, as if to say, “OK, I’m ready to go now.” We couldn’t take her, as she had to be tattooed with her special code and there was a two or three day waiting period. Steve drove up a few days later and brought home our girl. We already had another female dog and we introduced them carefully. They were best friends and had many wonderful days together until we brought home a male dog to be a mate for the basenji female. That changed the dynamics of our pack and the basenji was never the same. (This is another story for another time.) Through all of the dogs we’ve had over the 12 years of our life together, Sheba was the constant. She lived with us for 8 years, bringing much joy to our evening TV watching, park walking and errand running. She even abided my crazy Christmas photos with red and green collars, pink dog snugglies and other off-the-wall ideas. In many ways, she was our spiritual companion, too. She saw our relatives, who came to visit, after crossing over. Many times, my grandmother or Steve’s grandfather came to visit and while Steve felt their energy, our sweet girl saw them. She even liked to sleep with a towel over her head. LOL Steve says that he feels that Pappaw and my Granny were there to greet her when she crossed over on that Friday a few weeks ago. So, she is chasing squirrels in heaven and having DQ ice cream every night. She is a sweet little girl. We will miss her.