Remembering Daily

I was watching TV this morning and saw the commercial where that cute little dog is obsessing over his bone, worry, worry. That reminded me of the time my daughter and son-in-law asked me and Jay to come to San Antonio and dog sit while they vacationed in Scotland. Since it was the end of October, we were to hand out goodies to the hundreds of neighborhood kids on Hallowe'en as well.

Kelley told us if we really wanted to endear ourselves to Daily, we could give her a pig's ear. Ew. We had to get her some dog food,  anyway, so we picked up a pig's ear, too. Ew. Have you ever seen a dried pig's ear? Ew. Never mind. Apparently, dogs love them.

We gave the ear to an ecstatic Daily, who immediately started chewing on it. It was too big for one snack, so she started looking for a place to put it for safekeeping. Thus began two days of frantic activity on her part. No place was secure enough for her.  She might have found the right place outside, in a pile of leaves by the fence, but I found her putting it there, so she retrieved it  and took it inside. It was a relief to all of us when she polished it off a day later. 

On Hallowe'en, I was preparing dinner and Jay took Daily out to the front porch so she could see all the kids in their costumes while he handed out treats. She soon got agitated, so he sent her back inside.

When everything was cooking, I went into the office to check my e-mail, and Daily went right along with me. I had just gotten started, when the phone rang. As I jumped up and turned around, I tripped over something and fell flat, spraining my ankle and almost pulling the book case down on top of me. I hollered for Jay, but he couldn't hear me. So, I crawled painfully over to the swivel rocker in the corner and struggled into it. At the same time, I could hear Kelley's voice on the answering machine: "Mom? Jay? Where are you?  You'd better be handing out all that candy. I don't want to be tempted by it when we get home."

I realized that Daily was sitting in front of me, and imagined that she was empathizing with my plight. On closer observation, however, I realized I could read her mind.  She was very clearly thinking, "You do know that's MY chair, don't you?"  Such compassion.

Daily is gone now, and two more puppies just like her have taken her place.  I love the new puppies, but, really, Daily is still my favorite, and I still love her.  That's why her picture is on this blog, complete with halo. If there is any such thing as a canine angel, Daily is one.

Stay tuned.