Herbie – The Best Dog Ever!
Both my husband and I grew up having dogs as part of the family. In fact, I couldn’t remember a time when we didn’t have a dog. We each had a dog when we were married, his a Black Lab and mine a Heinz 57. The first time we didn’t have a dog was when we had to put down the last of three pups that were intentionally fathered by my husband’s Lab. We lasted a month and a half. We were going crazy! There was a huge hole in our lives that needed to be filled by a dog.
We decided to adopt a rescued dog. I called the City Offices to locate the pound and was referred to Mary Ann Ahrens, President of the Humane Society in Star Valley. She emailed me a picture of Herbie, a Black Lab puppy. One look at the picture and I knew he would be our next dog. It was love at first sight! This was before Lucky’s Place had been built and Mary Ann was fostering Herbie at her home with many other animals. We went to see Herbie and both fell in love with him. We weren’t able to take him home that day, because we needed to prepare our dog yard for a puppy. The week we had to wait seemed like a month. When we went to get Herbie, Mary Ann told us that if we changed our minds, we could bring him back. We told her that Herbie was ours and there was no chance we would be returning him. He sat on my lap and fell asleep on the way home.
It was quite an adjustment to have a lively puppy after a 15-year-old dog. Herbie definitely filled the hole in our lives. Now we had a dog to take for walks and rides, that always wanted to play, lifted our spirits, and was always so happy to see us. He was a faithful companion and brightened our lives every day. When Herbie was about 10, we started to notice him having difficulty seeing. He was diagnosed with retinal degeneration and eventually went blind. He adapted well to his disability, much better than we did at first. Throughout his life, he was always the most loving, happy dog. Herbie was our best dog ever.
Dogs give their owners unconditional love and are always there for you. Good animal owners return that love throughout their pet’s life, especially at the end. It’s extremely difficult to say goodbye to a pet that has been a member of your family. But in the end, owners have to return that love by doing what’s best for their pet. Due to illness, we had to let Herbie go when he was 14. It was one of the hardest days of our lives, but it was best for him.
Four months after, we adopted another rescue dog, Carley. She has filled the hole that Herbie left in our lives, but will never replace him, because Herbie and our other dogs will always live in our hearts.
-Cheryl
