Legalectric

That’s our dear Summer, the hospice dog we took on in April, 2011.  Today she is no more, we took her to the vet and had her put down.  When we got her, little did we know she’d shoulder her way into our hearts with such vigor.

Summer lived life LARGE, ate everything in sight, would drink herself into a burst bladder if allowed, and farted — audibly — and snored like a drunken sailor.  This is the day we brought her home from Ann’s in Wisconsin, who was fostering her for German Shepherd Rescue Alliance of Wisconsin:

Because she was “snarky” with the other pups, it took a bit, but they got along, the sheps becoming friends first, and then with Sadie… I think Sadie was a little too boisterous for Summer, but they finally got so they could even touch a little, though inadvertently:

Sometime after we bought the new house, after there was a dining room table, Alan found her dancing on it — this the dog who often needed help to climb into the van!  One day Alan left a pizza crust or two on a plate, up on top of a pile of “to-do” filing on top of a 4 foot high cabinet, and here’s what we came home to:

SUMMER!!  She’d be sheepish for a few seconds and then back to snarkiness, level 5:

Yes, she really would eat anything and everything in sight, a seat belt, a pink camo wubba, and right after we got her, her first leash was totally consumed except for the metal clip attached to her harness — how did she manage that — it came out little by little over 6 or more months!

She learned how to get into the fridge at the old house, and although we’d put up a baby-gate, she’d rip it down and saunter into the kitchen, dump over the dog food and lay in it, chowing down until she couldn’t eat any more:

She also ate through a paprika jar, and one day she got into a cabinet and drank a bottle pure vanilla extract (hic!) and broke open and lapped up a bottle of dressing, yes, a GLASS bottle:

She also got a nasty Mast cell tumor, and it got in the way of her walking, but the night we noticed her limping and checked it out, with a visit to the vet scheduled for the next day, damned if she didn’t do her own surgery, chewed out the nasty stuff very neatly, and it healed right up, that was so amazingly done and a good health care lesson:

How many cases of pee pills did we go through in the last 19 months???  With Summer, it was always something, and a HUGE thanks to Kenyon Vet Clinic for keeping her together and ticking for 19 months.  Quality and Compassionate Veterinary Care… Fairly Priced! (to put it mildly!)  And on Facebook!

Here she is on the way to Baron Fest I in a rental car just a week or so after we got her:

And on to Baron Fest II, here are two wiped out pups on the way back (can you spell T-O-R-N-A-D-O?  Weird time in Maryland Heights, MO!):

And a photo from Monica from Baron Fest, THANK YOU!!!  One is Summer, one is Honey Bear — which is which?

Here she is making herself at home in the new house:

Summer, we will miss you!!!

Summer, f/k/a Daisy, was dumped in the Gary, IN shelter, and little did she realize her life was about to change:

Here she is on the way to GSRAW from Gary, IN:

And at Ann’s house, GSRAW.  Just look at that smile:

And my all time favorite photo of my all time favorite dog, “Summer Smile” from Baron Fest, just a week after we got her, and you can see that she knows she’s safe and loved: