Sabi

I don't know what made me think of her but our dog of long ago was in my mind this afternoon so here she is once again. In print this time.
She was, we think, a Basque Shepherd. Fairly large and all black, with a lovely gentle nature, though she shed like a buggar. We found her abandoned in a parking lot near the nuclear energy plant in Pickering. She was approaching every white car that arrived and came to us. Someone had been feeding her peanuts as she had been there for days. As soon as I heard that I was on to the local animal shelter who had no idea when they could rescue her as there was nobody free to get her. Great! The poor beast could not be left, so home she came. The young'uns were thrilled! She rode in the back seat between them being adored, though she ponged like you would not believe. We gave her a bath; more thrills! The cat left home in a huff; consternation!
He came back of course. Never met a cat who was unaware of a good thing when he saw it. We wrapped her up in a pink blanket and laid her on the carpet in the living room with a kiddiwink on either side petting her and she started to cry. I hope I never have to hear such a thing again.
It has been over 30 years since we found Sabi and remembering her crying has me upset all over again. What is it with animals? People can die all around us and yet a pet goes west and we are unglued. Sabi was with us for a good long time and kept us all safe. She wasn't above nipping an ankle or two if she thought her charges were getting out of line. She ended up at the vet's for the coup de gras one sad day as she had developed doggy Alzheimers and began to snap and snarl at the new arrival. New arrival was sadly held to blame for the death in the family by one of her siblings. For a while at least.
Dogs have come and gone since. The last one was a doozy[ he deserves a blog of his own some day!] but none were as sweet as our Sabi. I have no need of a dog but were I to find one again like her I would be sorely tempted. And of course, the cat would leave home!