RyRySays

Today my dog died.

Let me tell you a little bit about my first puppy. Shelby's a yellow lab that we got when she was 6 weeks old. She was a little round ball and the cutest thing ever. My sister named her for Shelby from Steel Magnolias. She grew up with our family and was just as much a member as any other sibling. When my mom called us to the table, or on the phone, or to pick up something, it normally sounded something like, "Ryan, Jeff, Shelby, Holly, whoever you are".

She loved to get into mischief. I've written about how she got out of the yard so many times that we had to basically make the fence into a fortress with sheet of steel. So also liked to eat everything. She's wasn't a chewer- she didn't go into closest except when she was really little and she ate my mom's leather boots and the top of my hiking boot.

She ate everything else though. You couldn't ever leave food out. She went to my brother's room once and ate an entire box of nutrigrain bars. She ate multiple loafs of Cuban bread- including the plastic. Once, she ate an entire rack of ribs, got diarrhea so bad we had to replace the living room carpet, ate a chicken less than a week later and crapped again. That's when my mom discovered Capture- or to her- the miracle stain remover. They sold it at her haven (aka Home Depot) and she now purchases it in bulk.

Shelby has also eaten plastic bags, batteries, rocks of various sizes, kitty litter, frizbees, bones, sticks, dirt, a once 2 batches of home made play-do that my sister had made into a giant flower. She did not like citrus or lettuce, but I think she would have eaten just about anything else.

She loved swimming and would go to the pool to play with the kids, or jump into any river or lake. She did not like baths or the hose.

She let us dress her up like a cowboy or ballerina. We put countless pairs of glasses, shoes, and socks on her because how hilarious is that?

She had a '9' tattoo on her tummy to identify which puppy she was and you could still see it. We used to okay 'Who put the cookie in the cookie jar' with her as number 9- always the one who stole the cookie.

She loved being with people, especially my mom. She knew it was time to go on a walk when my mom put sneakers on. She knew it was time to go out when I got out my Walkman. She was mainly my mom's dog, her fourth baby. I can't imagine what she's feeling right now. She was holding her when she fell asleep.

I'm going to miss her. I'm sure she's running through puppy heaven, eating all the ribs she wants to and jumping in pools with kids. She was the best first dog anyone could have. RIP Shelby.