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submitted by Brenda Barbour and Aideen O'Sullivan Stoneham, MA |
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submitted by Brenda Barbour and Aideen O'Sullivan Stoneham, MA |
| Mandy came into our lives six years
ago. Our sheepdog, Beag died of cancer at the age of 11 on April 22, 1997.
In trying to fill the house with the sound of an ever present sheepdog,
we asked Grannie Annie if we could serve as a foster home until the right
sheepie came along. On May 1, 1997 we went to GA's to pick up our
first foster dog, Mandy. We were introduced to a very little girl with
barely any hair (she had been totally shaved) who looked more like a greyhound.
The poor little thing was freezing so when we got home we put a turtleneck
sweater on her. She was very timid but had plenty of energy for an 8 year
old.
It took all of one day to figure out that this girl was just right for our home. Her personality is different from Beag's. She has actually turned out to be quite the clown, forever making us laugh. She loves people, other dogs and even cats. She actually has a few cat characteristics that she developed while living with several cats in her former home. Mandy is growing old now, having turned 14 on March 6, 2003. She is like an old favorite chair, a little rickety and wobbly but still warm and cuddly. She is totally deaf but we learned that you can teach an old dog new tricks. She has learned "our" form of sign language and seems unaware that she is deaf. Maybe she has learned to read lips too! We know that we will have to give
her up someday but these days she spends with us are the best of our lives.
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