Meet Sheba

Please click to enlarge to see how pretty she really was!

Roger and I was at the wedding of his cousin and she told us about the puppies that were just born and that they were collie and samoyed. At that time I had not heard of samoyeds. But I could not remember a time that I had not loved collies.

Attending his cousin's wedding was one of the first things we did together, and though we had not discussed marriage, we said something about liking them. Or maybe it was at our wedding, we mentioned them again...I don't know. Keep in mind we only dated a month and got married....anyway, we had not been married too long when here came his cousin bringing us this little bundle of love and energy.

I don't know where I came up with the name of Sheba, but that is what I named her. And I think by the time we got her, I had been home to Tennessee and brought my dachshund home. They were a pair...Snoopy the dachshund liked to play ball and Sheba like to play with an old sock with a not tied in it. She would have liked for Snoopy to play, but Snoopy preferred to play with us. But every now and then when Snoopy walked by Sheba, Sheba would reach out and bite her tail just to get a reaction out of her.

Roger and I both worked the evening shift, so they were alone for several hours, though my mother-in-law would come and let them outside a time or two before we got home for them to go to the bathroom. But still, I cannot remember all that Sheba chewed up with her sharp, puppy teeth. For one thing she chewed our checkbook to pieces, and another thing was a New Testament Roger's aunt had given him when he joined the marines.
The destructive phase of her puppyhood did not last long and she grew into a wonderful dog. She liked all women, and though she didn't hate men, she very seldom met any that she liked immediately. She knew family, though it might take her a day to accept them as family if she had not met them when young, but once she knew, she didn't forget them the next time she saw them. If it was any of Roger's male friends from work, she usually sat between us and them.

From the first minute she met our preacher, she liked him. And this one guy down home....that had been buddies with my brothers and been like family. She loved him the minute she met him.

Roger could pretend to attack me, and she would go up and would put her mouth around his leg
but not bite him....if he had really been hurting me she would have defended me I am sure.
We had had her about two years when we moved to Tennessee....where these photos were taken. All I had to do to was say 'here kitty, kitty' or 'where's the cat?' I do not know why, but she hated cats. Or maybe she didn't hate them, but just wanted to chase them. So, when I wanted a nice picture of her, the word to say was not 'cheese' but 'kitty.'

When we moved back to Indiana, it was sort of suddenly...my father-in-law's cancer had returned. We moved in with them for a month or so...and we left Sheba with my mom. Though we got to see her a more times, she was always thrilled to see us. A faithful companion always.