For Prince

Yesterday was a tough day for all of us. Adrienne had her second chemo so our friend Naomi came over to stay with the dogs as Prince was quickly deteriorating. By the time we got home, he was unable to stand at all and just wanted to lay on the grass. We spent a few hours with him after Curt came home and made the decision to take him to the vet at 6:00 pm and he was put to sleep with all of us there. We thought it would be scary but it wasn't at all. He just seemed so peaceful.

We got Prince in 1996, just a few months before Adrienne's diagnosis. Everyone agreed that they wanted a sheltie but it took awhile to find a breeder. Eventually, I found one in Merced, about a two hour drive from our house. The puppies were 10 and 11 weeks old but Adrienne and Daniel had already decided that they wanted an 8 week old one because anything else would be too big. They sat in the back seat, not saying a word for the entire 2 hour trip. When we pulled up to the house, you could hear dogs barking and we worked our way to the backyard, still with Adrienne and Daniel not saying a word. But that all changed when they saw the pups. I asked Adrienne which one she wanted and she said, "I don't care, I'll take any one." After "meeting" them all, we decided on Prince. He had a beautiful sable color and was quiet, the smallest of the lot. Adrienne and Daniel fought over who would hold him on the way home, so I decided I would hold him...and he threw up on me over and over again. I think it took us 3 hours to get home between clean up stops. He always hated the car until the day he died.

Prince loved the frisbee and walks more than life itself. He'd run after the frisbee over and over again until he couldn't run any more, and he had to be at the front of the pack for a walk. He also hated football games because everyone was screaming and yelling, so he'd usually be on my lap the entire time. He was a great friend and companion to all of us, and loved everyone who came to visit. We're going to miss him terribly.