I have been lucky enough to have a few dogs through my life, and loved every single one of them. All dogs are good dogs, when it really comes down to it.
Some dogs are great dogs. They have soul and presence in the family beyond being a pet. They are an integral part of the emotional atmosphere of the family.
When the family decided it was time for our first dog, we spent a couple of weeks visiting all the shelters nearby to find the right dog for us. We liked lots of them, but none of them jumped out as “the one”
Then Jenny messaged us that she had a 2 year old box/pit mix that somebody had pumped 2 litters of puppies from and dumped. This poor dog was 24 hours away from being put down before Jenny saved her.
The family excitedly piled into the car not knowing we were a 7 minutes drive away from somebody that would forever change our entire family.
Over the next few weeks, we named her, taught her not to go in the Guinea Pig cage (leaned after a single firm command) and bought the first of many breakable collars. I was flabbergasted how she instantly fit in as one of us, and it was impossible to imagine not having her around. Marissa quickly taught her commands and a couple of tricks. It sounds corny, but she was more love motivated than food motivated when it came to training. All she wanted was to be the best dog she could be, and protect us from ANY danger.
Some dogs are protective, but Roxy was on another level when it came to caring for the defenseless. She was impossibly attentive to Marissa’s bunnies. She would step between them and the cats, if the cats made even the slightest threatening move. She protected our chickens from another dog by literally running to put her body between them and guide the other dog away. She would BARK at me when I tried to clear the kitchen of those pesky TX flies with a fly-swatter. I had assumed “wouldn’t hurt a fly” was just an expression…turns out I was wrong.
All of our family memories include her, because she was really one of us. Not a dog in the normal sense, but a fully formed family member. Her final moments were with her family, the only way we could ever be.