Of course her best service was in providing comfort to Heather and me. No matter how tired or unappreciated we would feel after a day at work Shadow could make us feel like the most loved people on the planet.

              Through the last of Heather’s pregnancy she was laid up by the obstetrician after a few false labors among other things. Shadow was Heathers only but satisfactory daytime company until Judy arrived.  Shadows world would change so much after our little one arrived. At first just a curiosity for sniffing, it soon became apparent that this little critter was too time consuming.

Shadow was 8 years old now and at this stage of Shadows life she had begun to spend a lot of time lounging and sleeping.  So, at least we didn’t pull this on her during her time demanding puppy days. I was starting to think about Shadow’s mortality. “The old rule-of-thumb that one dog year equals seven years of a human life is not accurate.” 1 The ratio is higher with youth and decreases a bit as the dog ages. Depending on breed, a dog experiences adolescence anywhere from eight months to two years or more. Generally, a dog of six has aged about as much as a 45-year-old human. At 12, she's like a human of  75; and at 15, a human of 90. By this measure Shadow was 52 when Kathryn was born and she died at 75, a little early but we weren’t good about controlling her weight in the middle years. This was doubtless a contributor to her congestive heart failure.

Next Page >