In Memory Of....

Referred to as “Man’s Best Friend,” dogs can be so much more….Catie was adopted from the York County SPCA in June 1995. She had a tag hanging on the outside of her kennel stating “Needs Socialized.” We didn’t understand exactly what that meant at the time, we just saw a starved young dog that looked scared. We asked if we could take a closer look at her. We were taken to another room, and she was brought into a small room where she immediately went to my wife (She didn’t really want a dog…she didn’t like dogs). The people at SPCA were shocked, as they said this dog didn’t go to anyone. She chose us. We had to take care of paper work, and our new dog had to be spayed before we could take her home. We were told we could pick her up tomorrow. We were then told she was rescued from an abusive situation. As a pup, she and her brothers and sisters were confined to a box. The box was never cleaned, and the pups were not fed. The mother dog already had a second liter by the time they were taken. All of her brothers and sisters were put down immediately because they were “Biters.” We were told she may be difficult to house train, she may not be good with kids, and she may turn mean.

I remember it was a summer day, My wife was at work and I was to pick her up. We decided to name here Catherine Marie after my wife’s grandmother, and call her Catie. When I arrived at the SPCA, she looked as scared as before. She was recovering from her surgery. I picked her up (physically) and put her in the front seat of my pickup, and she was happy…she became a different dog…. She wasn’t scared. We got home, and I was worried about her running away, but I quickly realized that wasn’t going to be a problem because she never left my side.

She was house broken in less than two weeks, and it only took that long because I had to figure out how to train her. Once I realized she wanted nothing to do with her “potty spots,” all I had to do was clean up an “accident” then play with her in that area. Soon the entire house became her home, and she didn’t want to mess it up.

Time went by. She was great with my wife and I, but it took a few years for her to warm up to other people, but she eventually overcame her fear of others. She loved to go for car rides, visit my parents, and she loved to be in the mountains.

We then acquired a Yorkshire Terrier (Margaret Ann) that we call Maggie. The two dogs became inseparable to the point one would not go outside without the other. Time went on.

Our first son was born. We were concerned, in part because we didn't know how Catie would be with a baby. We had the baby blanket from the hospital for Catie (Who stayed at my parents) so she could get a scent before meeting our son for the first time. Catie was at the house when I took my wife and new son home for the first time. Catie scared me because she practically knocked me down to get into the back seat of the Jeep where our son was. We didn't know how Catie would react with a baby in the house. Turned out, All she wanted to do was meet him. She wagged her tail and sniffed and genly licked and eventually guarded that baby. Time went on…and this story was repeated with son #2.

Catie was a wonderful dog. Her and I shared breakfast and morning coffee daily. She didn't bark when we first got her, so we trained her to ring a bell when she wanted to go out. Days that I could not get out of bed due to illness found her laying right next to me all day long. She mastered spelling R-A-B-B-I-T since we tried not to say it out loud in count of her going nuts. Same with P-A-P-E-R, as she loved to bring in the daily paper… at least until we canceled it and changed to Sunday Only delivery. She adjusted and was able to figure out which days were Sunday, she would stand at the door and wimper unitl we would let her out so she could bring the in the Sunday Paper (As big as it is).

All in all, she was a great dog that only tried to make us happy. She tried so hard that she refused to let us know she was in pain as cancer tore her apart. It wasn’t until the week of Oct 25 that she developed a “cough.” I thought she “Ate something”. Saturday, Oct 30, she wasn’t able to sleep, as she couldn’t stop coughing. We took her for X-Rays on Sunday. Her lungs were tore up from a cancer she just could not hide anymore.

She died in my arms, looking into my wife’s eyes, peacefully on the floor. She lays at rest, wrapped in her “favorite sleeping bag” in a deep grave at my parents house.

I will forever miss her.