Eight Years Later

 Today in my FB memories was my reminder that 8 years ago, we said goodbye to Sheba. 

This was written then & I'm reposting this here:

 

Sheba's TurnRich and I came to the decision this morning(Sunday) not to let Sheba suffer any longer. When this posts, we will have let her join her brothers over the rainbow bridge.


IN my usual tradition, I'm going to talk about my dear girl and what she meant to us.


After we moved back to the Cleveland area in 2001, it was a bit hard on Galen. We went from living in a pet friendly community where he had plenty of doggie friends to living in an area where he had no one.


Galen when he was younger and bored, was a major PITA.   I wanted to get him a companion, but Rich was against getting another dog.  In March of 2001, it took a phone call from someone I knew that worked with animal rescue to tell us a sob story about this one dog they had.  We agreed to "try her out". 


Sheba was about 6 months old when we brought her home. She was a scared little thing that was so meek.  I remember after getting her home, I was sitting on the floor with her curled in my lap. The minute she was not the center of attention or actively getting petted, she would fly under the bed to hide out.
She was NOT a fan of men. She would aggressively bark at them and not allow them to come too close, but somehow she immediately took to Rich.


Galen adored her from day 1.  That first night, he spent all his time on the floor trying to get her to come out from under the bed and play.  They hit it off immediately and they were inseparable from that point on. 


We had some minor issues with her in the beginning. She loved to chew on wood and we had some minor house training incidents.  She even took a huge chunk out of the middle of the wood floor in the rental house we lived in.  We should have recognized the Mistress of Destruction title she was revving up to earn.  In June, 3 months after adopting her, we moved into our first home.  It was there, during the first month, that it all came together.


She no longer was having accidents. She was no longer being destructive.  I think this had a lot to do with the fact that we had a fenced in yard and allowed the dogs out to play quite often. They had each other to burn off all that excessive energy.  Sheba also discovered that our new neighbors’ son played basketball with his friends every day. She patrolled that fence line barking up a storm, protecting us from those noises and those boys.


She bonded not only with Galen, but Rich as well. When he would be on his computer playing games, she'd either be curled up at his feet or climbing her way into his lap.  Quickly it became obvious she was a Daddy's girl and Daddy was her whole world. She loved Mommy. She loved Galen, but Daddy was HERS!!!!
Slowly, but surely she opened up to us and we began to see the playful pup she was. She loved to chase the ball and play fetch. She loved to play tug of war with us, but she loved to make us laugh more than anything. She would get so excited if she heard us laughing at her.  
We were quite settled and happy with our little family.  


That October we discovered something new about Sheba; her love of all things squeaky. It came about by accident.  Rich is a big Halloween dork and we had recently bought some decorations. One of the items we had was a glow in the dark screeching head. It was a little skull that you would squeeze and then as it inflated would screech (and you would throw it). The first time she heard it she had to investigate it.   Then she began to play with it. We laughed, it was cute.  That night however, she showed us just how much she loved it. Lying in bed sleeping, we are awoken to "Squeaka" "Squeaka" "Squeaka".  Downstairs in the middle of the night, Sheba plays with her new discovery.  From then on we bought her all sorts.   She loved to get a new squeaky.  


The following year, in September, we "temporarily" took in Goldberg. You all know how that temporary situation turned out.  Initially, he was petrified of Galen & Sheba, but eventually came out of his un-socialized shell.  Goldberg took to Sheba in a weird way. He loved to pick on her. If Galen and Sheba were wrestling in the back yard, he'd jump on her.  He'd try to steal her toys. He'd try to steal her snacks.  She never went after him in the beginning.  The three formed a small pack and rarely did things without the other.  They loved to lay across the back of my couch and stare out the big window.  You'd often find all three of them next to each other barking at passerby’s or squirrels.  


One time Goldberg and Sheba, thanks to Sheba, knocked off the kitchen table a tray of wings and proceeded to devour them.   They would have eaten the whole tray had Galen not told on them.


Since they had a back yard to play in, they didn't get walked as often as the dogs do now, but when we did take them for walks, all three of them had to be side by side.  


Back then, Rich was part of the Reserves and would have to do his 2 weeks away.  Sheba was heartbroken every time she saw him bring out the suitcase. She'd cling to me while he was gone and be overjoyed when he came home.  
This was our life for several years.


We also discovered during this time that Sheba had a very gentle way with babies. She loved children and just instinctively knew they had to be dealt with carefully.  Galen, who was 'tortured' by kids, avoided them at all costs. Not Sheba.


Sheba's Den. From Day 1, Sheba hid under the bed when she wanted to feel safe.  This became her space. If she wasn't in the bed keeping warm or cuddling with us, she was found under the bed.  


In 2009, Rich lost his job.  He spent 6 months at home.   Sheba, who prior to this, had only mild separation anxiety, was about to change. With Rich being home every day for 6 months and our having a tight budget where we did not go out, our children became use to our being home all the time.   When Rich did return to work, we began to see the changes in Sheba.  The destruction and messes I came home to that first week were awful.  We also began finding the dog food and water bowls overturned and all over the laundry room.  This was her protest to our being gone.
When Rich got his new job, we knew we were going to move.  In October we began the process of building and prepping the old house for sale.  Sheba knew something was up and really began her period of destruction.  It started with scratches and torn up molding around the door.  Next the molding torn from the wall with plaster attached.  We began caging her and she soon destroyed that metal cage with her teeth.  Next was the table.  We ended up having to put her on meds and meet with a behaviorist.    She was not a happy camper.


At the end of February 2010, we moved into the new home.  They LOVED it.  More room. More space. And because we didn't have a yard yet, walks, walks, and more walks.   The 3 were locked in the unfinished side of the basement when we weren't home. At first they were fine, but eventually Sheba began her destructive tendencies.  Here she truly earned the nickname Mistress of Destruction.


All 3 dogs also changed once we moved here.  We didn't have a fenced in yard, so they were at first tied up in the back. Eventually after learning their boundaries, they could be let out without being tied up.    Our dogs, once ferocious and unwelcoming of visitors and strangers, were now welcoming to our neighbors.  They eventually adopted our neighbors at part of the pack.  Our summer night fire pits with the neighbors included our dogs.  We'd let Sheba out and she'd wander off next door to say Hello to one of the neighbors.  It was a good life.


Slowly over time they began showing their age. It was little things like tiring out quicker on walks or during play time. Just being so non-reactive to visitors.  They were good dogs.
Also, slowly we started to see the Goldberg /Sheba rivalry increase.  They were constantly getting into it, especially over food.  After time, we just began to ignore it because there was no point. Even separating their bowls had no effect. 


We lost Goldberg quickly in April of 2012. He became ill at the end of March and by the end of April we had said goodbye. I was truly devastated. He was my "Buggy".  It was sudden and unexpected and the first of MY kids to leave.  


I began to worry about the other two.  Galen was slowing down. Sheba was his BFF. Where we had once been talking about not replacing any of them, we began to see if Galen went first, Sheba would not do well.  She had never been alone and never been without Galen.  A year after Goldberg passed, we adopted Duchess. We were looking for a dog that wasn't a puppy (housetrained) and who would be non-reactive to the older dogs. We also hoped the dog would do well alone when the time came. Galen and Sheba would not put up with a dog jumping all over them.    At first, this is how she was.  However as she became more comfortable, we began to see her come out of her shell and we saw her true nature. A young dog with lots of energy. She often tried to engage Sheba in playtime, but Sheba was too old for it.  Galen, his health failing, wasn't a fan of her. We quickly saw that we were going to end up with another dog down the line as a companion to our big bucket of energy.


We said goodbye to Galen in January.  Sheba mourned him.  She lost a bit of spark.  She was also beginning to have issues. She was no longer able to get under the bed.  She began having vision and hearing issues.   It looked as if she was not far behind.  In late March I was scrolling through Facebook on my phone while Rich was watching TV. I came across a shared post with a picture of this gorgeous German shepherd. I showed Rich and he said "I want her".  A week later we brought Athena into the fold.


Athena was the perfect outlet for Duchess' boundless energy. I could walk them both. We began taking them for walks. They would wrestle here in the living room. They loved to play. All this brought something out in Sheba. Soon she was pushing to go on walks with us. Soon she was jumping up when we walked in the door. At the dog park, Sheba would go around and greet everyone for her mental & physical stimulation. IT seemed that our girl had found her second wind.


Unfortunately, her body didn't get the memo.  Between April and now, we've seen the decline in Sheba.  Her vision and hearing have gotten worse. She has doggy dementia. She wanders around bumping into things. Staring at walls. Getting lost and confused.  Next she began stepping into the water bowls. She would wander around the house with no purpose.  
Next she's falling down stairs because the strength in her legs is giving out.  She's going in the house. She's going in the house and tracking it throughout.  She sleeps hours at a time and doesn't wake when you're in the room.  Her hours of lucid behavior and or physical strength are diminishing daily.   There are times she seems to be in great spirits and health, but then she'll walk right into a chair and get "stuck".   How selfish can we be?  We've taken to putting her in the room downstairs to limit the "damage" she can do.  It hurts to see her like this. She's been a good dog. A faithful companion. She's the dog that would get herself killed to protect us.  She's been the most loyal companion of all the dogs we've adopted.  It's time to give her the rest she really has earned.    
It's going to be hard.  Saying Goodbye never is.   Goldberg was the worst as there was no time to prepare. Galen was bad as he was my first and MY baby.  It was also a lot easier as we saw the decline through the years.  Sheba will be hard as she's the last of the original 3.  She was Rich's first dog.  Yes we had Galen first, but Sheba was truly Rich's.  He will take this very hard. I will too, but Sheba had a good life. She need to have fun again and be with her brothers.    Duchess and Athena will help us get through the pain.  Sheba will be missed by many.  
As I've sat here composing this, she has wandered up and down (falling down at that) the stairs. Stood at the wall staring. Is has knocked over the bowls again and is wandering in and out of our bathroom upstairs.  


So in the tradition that I did for my previous two kiddies, this is my tribute to a wonderful Pretty Pretty Princess named Sheba.