Michaela and Max

 Here in Southern Indiana, the weather is unexpectedly cool.  I don't believe it made it above 70 today as inside, the thermostat says it is 68 and the air conditioner hasn't kicked on once.  I am not complaining.  This is my favorite weather - cool nights, shirt-sleeve weather during the day.  I don't know of any place where the weather is like this year-round.

My 2 dogs, Elsie, a Giant Schnauzer, and Michaela, a Pembroke Corgi, were getting up in years and I wanted a puppy to learn things from them.  I have always done this with dogs and puppies and never regretted it. So last September, I bought a male German Shepherd pup (what was I thinking??!!).  He was 11 weeks old at the time and not much of a puppy, just a medium-sized awkward dog with long legs.  Now, going on 15 months old, he is about 90 pounds and mouthy. He argues with what he believes is unfair treatment (kennel time when I can't keep an eye on him) and has to have his nose on my person most of the time and insists on mouthing me which I don't allow as I consider it bad behavior.

I grew up with German Shepherds but they were always females. These wonderful dogs kept herd on all of us children and probably saved some of us from doing things we shouldn't do. They always stayed where we children were including indoors at night. Hence my memory fails me as I do not remember our dog shedding the way Max does.

I promised myself a couple of years after I got Michaela that when she died, I would not ever have another dog that sheds like she did.  I told people that she shed 3 dogs a day and that wasn't far from the truth. I have all laminate flooring and I can sweep morning and night and still have several dust pans of dog hair.  When I told my vet that grooming her didn't help with all the hair falling out, he told me to quit grooming her so much as that encouraged more hair to fall out.  I tried that too.  It didn't help. I went back to grooming her because it made me feel like I was trying.

Anyway, Michaela, at three years old was such an awesome mother to Elsie when I got Elsie at 8 weeks old. Michaela taught her tug of war and boundaries and manners even though by 6 months, Elsie towered over Michaela. She was good-natured about having a buddy. Michaela quickly learned how to run across the yard, twist sideways and run through the field fence hole, and race Elsie.  

This became a game for them.  The entire time they were racing the perimeter of the yard, they were barking, with Elsie on the inside perimeter of the yard and Michaela on the outside perimeter.  In fact, the barking was so intense that one day my neighbor drove over to see what all the barking was about. He couldn't believe it that it was their game.  He watched for 5-10 minutes while we chatted and said he had never seen such a thing.  Truth be known, neither had I.

Michaela was almost 11 when I got Max.  She taught him to race as well. She also taught him how to greet me when I came up the driveway, which was a bit of a concern for me since it involved Max climbing the fence to be on the same side of the fence as Michaela to do so. She was like a mother to him, cleaning his face and his upright ears. 

With Elsie around to wrestle with Max and Michaela to teach him other things, Max got a great education in his first year.  He also completed 8 weeks of basic obedience training. Then Michaela died the month after Max turned 1. It broke my heart as she was the life of the party.  Always smiling and always glad to see me. She loved tummy rubs and I obliged and informed anyone that she rolled over in front of that she only wanted her tummy rubbed. I was her mommy from the time she was 5 weeks old until she passed. 

I know that someday, Elsie and Max will also pass from my life. Dogs live such short lives compared to ours but they bring us such great joy if we but only let them. I know I have learned from most of the dogs that have been in my life over the years, but I truly believe that my Corgi, Michaela was the closest I've ever had to a mini-me than any other dog I've ever owned.  Thick body, short legs, attention getting gleaming eyes, and always willing to help. Michaela was special, sorely missed, and will not be forgotten.