Good Dogs

I'm a very tactile shopper. I only pick things up when I'm ready to by.  I need to know how an item feels. What's the heft? Does it feel soft, solid, cheap?  IN the same way I'm a visual internet browser.  I've been online since you had to have a local .edu or darpa account so I'm very versed in using the advanced search features on the various search engines.  That said I was once asked how the heck I found something so quickly when a group I was sitting in needed an answer.  The trick is that I do the search and then switch to "image" view.  This allows me to scroll through the images weeding out results that obviously aren't what I need. So I was really happy to see Pinterest when it was launched. It's kind of the same idea with the added benefits of having the result group sourced and tested.

After that bit of background: recently a picture of my Bestest Old Girl showed up on the book of faces memory feed. 

I miss her every day.  As a puppy she picked us out when we finally decided that my daughter was old enough to take on the responsibility of a pet.  My wife had recovered from her cancer surgery and we were moving back into normalcy. However, she soon had to deal with the side-affects  which lead to a double hip replacement.  She turned that lovable mutt into a well trained service dog. She pulled clothes out of the dryer for folding. She picked up and fetched items that were out of reach. She knew to get out of the way and not be underfoot as my wife navigated on crutches.  

For over a year after her last day I would look for her outside to be let in, or stop to put water in her bowl, or stop in the mud room to check her kennel. I've been lucky to have had many 'good' dogs but none that I loved like her.  

This leads me to Gun-dog. He's a purebred German Shepherd and the most stubborn, hard head-est thing I  have ever had to deal with and I've worked customer support. Yeah, I love him but we don't have the same connection that I had with Stitch..... and that seems to be part of the problem.  It's been very hard for me to realize that he is not Stitch. Comparing him to her is not fair and I'm working on it but dang it's hard.