Sandy-Thanks!

[nez]

This past Wednesday was a rough day for me and my family. Sandy was my first lab and was absolutely everything I could have ever hoped for in a lab, a hunting retriever, a partner and a good dog. She was all of those to us. She was ready to hunt every time I could possibly make it. She didn't care where we went, what we were hunting out of or what the conditions were. My hunts definitely weren't always great or even good but she didn't mind. If I was with 5 other guys and we killed 6 limits she was thrilled to get to pick them up. If it was me and someone else scratching out a couple she kept her eyes on the sky the whole time making sure there might not be one more. She was great in the blind, no noise, never seemed to get bored always focused on seeing down the barrel or what was in front.

Sandy introduced me to more terrific people through hunting and in the hunt test arena than I could have ever imagined. She was the odd dog out on Travis' truck for a long time as everyone that knew him wondered where the yellow dog came from. Know she also made him proud. She definitely made us proud, wound up be a HRCH UH, 500+ points dog. (Thanks for getting her there Travis!) Again, awesome for my first lab. It was due to her that my best friend my high school and I were able to renew our friendship that distance had put a curve on. Thanks Egger for giving us the opportunity to have a wonderful dog. Bringing her home as a 6 month puppy from San Angelo sure doesn't seem like it was that long ago. She and I were able to make a couple of duck hunts in TX that I'm sure would not have happened if it hadn't been for her.

For my family Sandy was our pet and she was as perfect as we could have ever imagined. She stayed inside w/ us almost every night, my wife would have never thought that would happen but think she wanted her to be inside and much as me and the boys. Sandy rotated nights on our 3 beds and my youngest made sure we knew who had her the previous night and who's night it was. If it was at all possible for somebody to be petting her she made sure she nudged whoever to remind them but if everybody was busy she was OK finding a spot to catch a nap. Sandy welcomed any visitors we had and if they were our visitors that was all she needed to know, they could pet her as much as possible as well. If she ever barked we needed to check because something was up. I'll never forget her bouncing up & down on her front feet at feeding time until her food was being put down then since she learned as a pup she would sit and wait for us to tell her "free dog". She didn't find many treats/snacks she didn't like although vanilla ice cream may have been her favorite.

Sandy had one litter (we had tried a couple of Rowdy/Sandy breedings, thankfully one did take) of 8 pups and I know at least 3 of those got HRCH's (kinda odd all those happened her last weekend with us) and at least 2 HR's. Think one of the others is a guide dog. I am so thankful we decided to keep 2 of those pups. They mean even more to me now and Bolt and Grizz will be petted on and loved by us even more now.

Sandy we love you girl and miss you terribly. I know we did the right thing but I still hate it. Just like the rest of your life I thank you for being a good dog till the very end, thanks for keeping the tail wagging as long as you could. Glad you got to compare the Chick-fil-a and Sonic ice cream the last 2 days.
RIP girl, you deserve it.

HRCH UH Twin Mountain's Ring of Fire
"Sandy" 2005-2015

[B3]

What a great tribute.My condolences to you and your family

Bill

[BucksandDucks]

Sorry to hear about that! Sandy was a BAD booty dog! Glad I got to see her run! She will be missed by lots of folks!

[SkippyJ]

Sorry to hear!!

Chip