In Memory of Shadow, January 1997-February 3, 2011

Shadow came to us in January 1997, after we had lost a previous black lab, Bud. Shadow was born with a birth defect, as his eyes never developed properly. He was found by a lady ,out running with his rope chewed in half, and she took him to our vet, Dr. Dick Maier, in Moses Lake, WA . He told her that his eyes were a birth defect and that he will make up for his eye site in his other senses, and boy, did he!
When she found out that we had lost our other lab, she contacted me, and even though my husband begged and pleaded with me NOT to get another dog, I felt he needed us as much as I needed him.
My husband was so mad at me, he was bound and determined NOT to like the dog! (He was going to take his anger out towards me on Shadow) Well, of course, that made Shadow even more determined to make my husband like him! Everytime my husband sat down, or laid on the floor by the fireplace, Shadow would cozy up to him and put his head on his chest, and look at him with those defective eyes, that eventually made my husband melt like a cube of butter!

We were his "Seeing Eye People"! He went everywhere with us and was a very "needy" dog! If we left him, he would destroy things! I think Marley and he were related somehow! He had been known to eat my seatbelts in the car, he ate my plastic wind deflectors around the outside windows of the car....one time we left him to go to a movie the day before the 4th of July and he ate the wood casing around our metal door to get inside the house! We came home to splinters everywhere! Shadow HATED fireworks!
He had tore up carpets, his bedding, and we must have spent a small fortune replacing things that he destroyed. Yet, we loved him so! It just showed us how much he needed us, but we could never leave him just anywhere, with just anyone!

We now live on the Columbia River, in Umatilla, OR and he loved to go to the river to swim and play! He, for some reason, that we have never been able to figure out, would dig up rocks, or more likely, boulders and carry them ever so gently all the way back to the house as a trophy of his trek to the river! He never broke a tooth or lost one, but they ended up being rather worn down. We saw him totally submerged, like he was skin diving, and how he found rocks we'd thrown out into the water, that he had to dive for and come back with that exact same rock, we will never figure out either!

We had many adventures together and he was with me through both my sons 2 tours in Iraq! He gave me a reason to get up in the morning and take care of him....(I think he was actually taking care of me!)

He was so smart! I think he knew every word that we knew! We have a cabin that my husband would cut wood for our little fireplace....he would call Shadow over and say, "Take this to Mommy", and I'd be in the wood shed and he'd bring me the peice of wood to stack! Then, I would say, "Go see Daddy", and he'd run back to my husband and get another peice of wood! We did this for hours! He was a great help! I taught him to bring in groceries, as now that all the kids are grown up and gone, I didn't have anyone to help me with that chore, so I would bag the groceries for Shadow to bring in, some things were NOT eligible! Eggs, milk, paper products became rather holely from teeth prints! Of course, he would do a "Victory Lap" around the yard with them and sometimes lose a few items along the way, so it wasn't real productive, but it WAS quite entertaining!

One time we were sitting in our hot tub, and it had snowed, so my husband stuck a couple bottles of beer out in the snow, took off his robe and got into the tub, which I was already in, and said, "Oh Darn it! I forgot to grab a beer for us"! So, I said, "Oh that's ok! Shadow will get it!"...so I told Shadow...."Shadow, go get Mommy a beer", and here he came with one in his mouth! My husband could not believe it! So I said, "Oh....did you want one too?" (of course, I knew the answer) so I said, "Shadow, go get Daddy a beer", and here he came with the other bottle for Ted! We learned to buy bottles NOT cans!

I believe after reading and knowing the story of "The Angel By My Side", by Mike Lingenfelter that some animals come to us as "spirits". I believe that Shadow was a "spirit" and not really a "dog".
If you haven't read this book! GO and GET IT! It's a very quick read and it will change your life if you're a dog lover! Be forwarned though....YOU WILL NEED A BOX (or two) of KLEENEX! A true story of a dog who saved a man, and a man who saved a dog!

Shadow spent 14 years with us, and we will miss him so! He developed malignant melanoma in his left nostril, and after 3 surgeries to remove the growth it finally traveled to his lungs. We took him to Dr. Maier on February 3rd for his final car ride with us, brought him back home and buried him in our backyard, down by the gate to the river....his favorite place to be! I will take all his trophy's, (his rocks and boulders) and put on his grave. He will have to wait for us now on.

We loved you so much Shadow! Rest in Peace, our Best Friend!
With Love,
Your Mom & Dad

Ted And Carmen P.