Our BABY

So many bloggers share photos and stories of their beloved animals.  Today I am sharing with you some old photos of our dog, Dusty.   

We had been married a few years when we decided to get a dog.  I wanted something small like a Yorkie or a Shih Tzu.  Well...hubby wanted a German Shepherd.  He had read a book about monks raising German Shepherds and was impressed with the breed.  So we found a breeder and went to make a selection.  While waiting for the puppies to come out the mother dog came over and sat down next to me - her eyes were level with mine.  I thought...OMG...the mother is huge!  Then out came the remaining two bouncing little puppies.  A brother with long fur and a sister with short fur.  I fell in love with the boy dog with the long fur.  That was our Dusty.  Actually I asked hubby if we could take home the sister too but he said one was enough.  Dusty was very quiet and shy on the drive home.  But it didn't take him long to join our family.  

Here he is the first day we brought him home.  He had the biggest paws we ever saw and we learned why later when he grew into a large 125 pound "German" German Shepherd.   That's my feet in the picture.  I couldn't resist getting down on the floor to play with him.

Right from the start Dusty loved lying on the landing by the back door.  He fits it nicely here but he still liked to be there even when he was full grown and hung over the edge.  Wasn't he the cutest doggie!

   Here's Dusty at 12 weeks old.  And this is a better view of his huge paws.  As puppies German Shepherd's ears go through a period of being up and/or down.  One is trying to stay up here...sort of.

We had Dusty for 7 years before we lost him to bone cancer.  We just loved him - there wasn't a nicer dog - he never growled at us or acted mean once in all the years we had him.   My hubby worked with him so he could take a bone out of his mouth.  I could hold his rawhide bones while he chewed them.  There aren't many dogs you can take a bone away from without losing a finger.  He was a real sweetie and as much as he loved us he loved other dogs even more.   Oh...I called him "Baby" because he didn't even realize how large a dog he was.  Once we are back home I can share some photos of Dusty all grown up.  He was a beauty.  Once when walking him we passed a little girl who cried out "Look...Mommy...a wolf!"   

RIP Dusty.  We miss you!

Sandy at Teacup Lane