My dad and I figure Lady was easily 17 years old--a good, old age for an outdoor dog. She really hadn't been well the last year or so. I was a little kid when she was born...kind of grew up with her.
Lady was my grandmother's dog (one of the puppies our dog Misty had). Misty passed away while I was still in high school. My grandmother suffered from Alzheimers, was in nursing homes for years, and finally passed away this past February. Lady was one of the last tangible connections I had to that childhood. She was really a great dog.
I remember the last time she was injured. Being an outside dog, we didn't realize that she had been hurt for several days, and by the time we took her to the vet, there was a huge hunk of dead flesh that had to be removed from her back. She was never a very cuddly dog, but all the way home from the vet she insisted on laying on me. Even when we brought her in the house, she would not get off of me.
I didn't really get to say goodbye to her. I'm not sure if being there when she was euthanized would have been better or not.
I'm going to find a good picture of her, and then post a memorial on the DogStar website.
