My dog Mandy died in April, a couple weeks after her 13th birthday. In the
last post I shared more general information about Mandy and her life. Here are some of my favorite stories about Mandy.
The Toads
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| Mandy at 7 weeks |
When Mandy was a puppy and we lived in North Carolina, she found a toad outside. We didn't notice and let her inside. She carried the toad in her mouth and dropped him under the dining room table. He lay on his back, playing dead. Mandy got bored with the "dead" toad and walked off, and we put him back outside.
When Mandy was a puppy, she liked to chew on anything, including books, so we had pulled the books off of the bottom shelf in our finished basement room, and it became "Mandy's shelf" that she liked to play on. Mandy found a toad outside and carried it into the basement room and dropped it on her shelf to play with. We took the toad back outside before she could play with it too much.
Fig Newtons
One evening when Mandy was a puppy, we left a package of fig newtons on the edge of the dining room table. She jumped up and grabbed the package and swallowed the package of about 6 fig newtons--in the cellophane wrapper. We were worried about her and called the vet, but they said they thought she would be okay and just told us to keep an eye on her. A couple days later the fig newtons came out--still in the wrapper!
Lifeguard Doggie
When Mandy was a big puppy, we took her to a swimming hole called Coontree. There was a pretty high rock/cliff that people liked to jump off of into the water. Mandy was on her long leash on the shore, watching people jump into the water. Mandy saw people jumping and disappearing under the water, and she freaked out, thinking they were drowning. She started crying and pulled so hard that she broke her leash and swam out to "rescue" the people. She swam back when the people came up and she realized they were okay.
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| Mandy swimming |
Homeschooling
I was homeschooled for most of middle school and all of high school. In high school Mandy definitely had her favorite and least-favorite subjects. We watched a Geometry DVD from the Bob Jones curriculum called "Geometry with Mr. Cohn," and Mandy hated it! She would always lie on the floor and groan during Geometry. But she loved Literature! My mom and Jordan and I took turns reading out loud, and Mandy would wiggle on her back and get belly rubs.
Baby Bunny
I didn't see this happen, but my Mom told me about it and I saw the baby bunny later. Mandy was playing in the backyard and found a nest of tiny baby bunnies. She picked up one of the bunnies and gently carried it in her mouth back to the house. The bunny died, but there were no teeth marks on it. We think it must have died of a heart attack!
Volleyball
Last spring I took Mandy to watch a beach volleyball game my friends from GAP (Northstar Church's graduates and professionals group) was playing. She loved watching volleyball and didn't want to leave! It was a hot day and I didn't want Mandy to overheat, so I tried to take her back to the car, but she didn't want to move. My friend Erinn had brought her little dog Polie to the game. Mandy didn't like Polie because when we first got there Polie barked and maybe growled at her. Erinn knew I was trying to leave, so she picked Polie up and set him down next to Mandy. Mandy gave Polie a disgusted look and got up and moved maybe a couple yards and then lay down again. Erinn picked Polie up and set him down next to Mandy again. Mandy finally got up let me take her back to the car.
The Rattlesnake
Last summer for Father's Day, my parents and Mandy and I went hiking at the War Spur Trail past Mountain Lake. We were letting Mandy hike off leash since there aren't normally many people on the trail, and Mandy is normally good about staying on the trail. Mandy was in front and I was a little behind her. Suddenly Mandy stopped, and we realized she had stopped to look at a huge rattlesnake in the middle of the trail. Mandy was only about a foot or two away from the snake, and it had its head up and was rattling. Mom and Dad kept calling Mandy and I was screaming at her, but she wouldn't come. I finally decided I would get behind Mandy, as far from the snake as I could, grab her collar and yank her away, and risk getting bitten. But before I could grab her, Mandy finally came to my parents very reluctantly and thankfully did not get a snake bite.
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| The rattlesnake |
Cheerios
When Mandy was little we tried to teach her to fetch, and she was good at bringing the ball back, but it was hard to get her to give it up so we could throw it again. We started bribing her to drop the ball by throwing Cheerios, and we would grab the ball while she was getting the Cheerios. This was supposed to be temporary, but somehow "Cheerio fetch" lasted the rest of her life. At some point my mom started buying off-brand Cheerios for Mandy and name-brand Cheerios for herself because the off-brand ones were cheaper and Mandy didn't seem to care. The off-brand Cheerios were also a good snack to take on walks and a low-calorie snack for when she was begging. Mandy didn't seem to mind until the day before she died. She started to lose her appetite and wouldn't eat the off-brand Cheerios, even if I put them in my hand. I wondered if she would eat the name-brand ones, so I put some in her bowl and she gobbled them up!
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| Mandy with a Cheerio stuck on her jowls |
