Hi likegiver, Riverwolf..thank you for your welcome! Emmy sends a warm Hello back Riverwolf :yes
How she and I came together is an interesting yet sad story. Because of my hearing problems I was having trouble sleeping well at night since I realized that I wouldnt know if someone got in the house or not, I wouldnt hear anything to warn me. My kids got me a Lab puppy for the purpose of being my ears at night after it got older, and of course we clicked immediately. Who wouldn't adore those beautiful babies? I named her Angel because she was MY Angel. Her first night in her new home I slept on the couch with her on my chest just so she wouldn't be scared, and feel alone. She was soo smart, and well behaved, and easily trained. When she was 4 months old just overnight she became very ill and when I took her to the vet he said she had swallowed something, he could feel it, and he would have to do surgery to remove it. When he opened her tummy, he just closed her back up and came and told me that she had not actually swallowed anything...what he had felt was her kidney. One was already atrophied and the other was swollen tremendously, and would soon begin to atrophy. He said some of her other organs had already begun to shut down, and she only had a short time left. He said she was suffering and the kindest thing I could do for her was to have her put to sleep. He couldn't explain the whats or whys to me, he only said that it appeared to be some kind of birth defect with her kidneys which in turn was starting to affect the rest of her system. Well, needless to say that was seriously a traumatic event for her and for me. He left us alone while we just kind of absorbed the info together. I sat on the floor and leaned against a wall and held her against my chest, and just rocked her while I dealt with it. When she started crying and vomiting again I knew I had to accept it, so we said our goodbyes and I handed her over to him. It was a long trip home that day.
Believe it or not, just a couple of days later the lady who had bred Angel's litter called me and said that one of the puppies had been returned, the people were moving and couldn't keep her. Her words to me were "You need a puppy and this puppy needs a home. Would you be willing to give it a try?" Well, I felt it was too soon plus I was worried about taking another pup from that same litter because of the birth defect issue, but I kept thinking about her saying this puppy needs a home, and in truth I DID need a dog inside my home to be my ears, so I decided to give it a try for both our sakes. That was over 6 years ago, and it is still a very loving and close relationship Emmy and I share. I often think of Angel still, and in truth I think I was led to choose her initially just so her short time here on earth could be one filled with love.
Anyway, to make a short story very long LOL that's how Emmy and I got together and it has been a wonderful union. My vet said she is the largest lab he has ever seen, she is VERY big..not heavy, just large overall. And she has shown no signs whatsoever of having the same problem her sister Angel had, thank God. She does her job of being my ears very well. She somehow knows intuitively that I need her to let me know things...she has her own window in the hall where she can see out and she lets me know when someone drives up, and I always know if someone is knocking on the door because she will go to the door and bark and stare at it, then at me, then back at the door. She lets me know when the phone rings also, she has a certain way she behaves with that also. So, the Lord sent me a replacement for my Angel, and he sent me another angel. I do realize that some might think I go overboard regarding things I do for Emmy but I look at it a bit differently. I feel like I am just returning the love and protection she gives me every day. After all, this is her home too and I try to act like it.
Again, thanks for the welcome! Wishing a wonderful day to you both!
