My dog Rosie

by K.M. Humphreys

Rosie is my beagle mix.  We’re not really sure what she’s mixed with, but she’s not full bred.  My husband and I adopted her two years ago on October 17^th. 

                She came into our lives as a scared little puppy.  Not a puppy really, she was six, but she acted like one and still does sometimes.  We believe she was abused and/or neglected prior to arriving at the shelter.  She was scared when the woman brought her into the little room where we get introduced.  Rosie didn’t want to come near us at first, but she eventually started coming near my husband after a few minutes.  It took her a little longer to come to me.

                At first we limited her access to certain areas of the house.  Now she has full access when we’re home, and only kept in our bedroom when we’re not home.  She loves our bedroom, or at least our bed.  It’s her favorite spot in the whole house.  Even when we are home, she is often found sleeping on our bed.  She also likes our sofa and the futon. 

                She’s overcome a lot of her shyness.  She still will run if a stranger tries to pay some attention to her.  With us she’s no longer scared.  She has a lot more energy than she did when we first got her. 

                It is said that dogs are a man’s best friend.  In our case she’s a woman’s best friend.  Rosie follows me around wherever I go in the house.  If she sees me get the keys out, she’s at the garage door hopeful for a car ride.  My husband will be petting her and as soon as she sees me, she walks away from him to come to me.  She mostly avoids my husband.   She only willingly goes to my husband when she’s scared – such as a big bad thunderstorm. 

                She is a silly puppy when it comes to eating.  She insists on dumping her food on the floor to eat it.  We always know when she’s eating as we hear her tilting the bowl and all the food falling to the mat we have under her dish.

                However, as she’s getting older, she has the possibilities of more illnesses.  We recently found a mass on her paw.  We took her to the vet to diagnose and they ended up doing a biopsy to make sure it wasn’t cancerous.  We are still waiting for the results. 

                While she was under the anesthesia, they also removed a cracked tooth, clipped her nails and cleaned her teeth.  She worries us when she gets sick.  We're just glad she's okay.

                She is the joy of our lives.  She’s our baby and we love her so.