Loyalty

Loyalty. When I think of loyalty, I think of my dog Zoey. Now Zoey has pretty much lived her entire life taking second stage to the more alpha dogs around her. The interesting thing though, is that she seemed very content to do so. Zoey never intentially ever gave us any trouble. She was always obedient, sweet, and accommodating. She was very in tune to my moods and was the first to show concern when I was upset. She was the kind of dog who would even check on you when you were under the weather. She somehow would curl up in such a way that you didn't even know she was sleeping in the bed with you. Her herding instincts were put on display at our farm once, when she chased a runaway calf out of the woods and back to her mother. She had never received one bit of training, and it was obvious it was pure instinct. Zoey was a trooper as she recovered from surgery on a torn ACL many years ago. It was during this time that we really bonded. Her recovery was long and arduous, but she never complained. Zoey has come to the end of her life,  and we are having to make the hardest decision a pet owner makes. Her quality of life is not good, and she is struggling more each day. I've learned a thing or two about loyalty from this sweet dog, and I will miss her when she's gone.