Hershey

This last week I had to say goodbye to my pup Hershey.  Apparently she decided to wait to see all of us kids one last time before she took her turn for the worst.  The day after we all got home, she couldn't even get up and down on her own.  She was in so much pain.  I'm actually surprised she's lived this long - 16 yrs.  I thought she was going to go last Christmas.....

She was such a good dog and I will miss her mucho.  This is what she looked like when we first got her.....so cute!

Hershey absolutely LOVED her walks.  You could just say the word "walk" and she would get so excited and jump up and down and run to the gate to be let out.  She made for a good hiking companion too and accompanied my dad on many rigorous hikes.  She had a bit of "hunting" in her genes and would often kill birds who lingered just a little too long in our backyard, as well as bark her head off at any intruders or even visitors, especially men.  I always felt safe with Hershey!

Despite her fierce exterior, Hershey was really just a big chicken.  Every time she got a thorn stuck in her paw she would limp along until one of us came to pull it out.  Often times, there wouldn't even be a thorn...maybe she just wanted out attention.  Smart dog.  Hershey was absolutely terrified of loud noises - thunder & fireworks being the worst.  Often times we would find Hershey in the front yard during a thunderstorm.  She thought she could escape it by climbing the 5 ft. fence I guess.  She also hated water with a passion.  Every time we turned on the hose to give her a bath, she would run to the far corner of the yard and not budge an inch.  We'd have to pick her up and carry her over for her bath.  But afterwards, she LOVED it.  She would run around the whole backyard doing figure eights and roll around in the grass.

Hershey always got to go with us up to Grandma's house in Utah every summer and to Las Vegas every winter.  She didn't always appreciate her one foot of space in the car but loved to see her cousins - Scooter, Daisy and Tiara (my aunt's dogs).

Hershey was the cutest thing and I especially loved the way she used to twitch her eyebrows when you would look her in the eyes.  The best pup ever!

My Pup Hershey

Yes, my family really likes chocolate. My dog's name is Hershey (also easy to remember she's a girl) and we also had a cat named Snickers while our current cat is Nestle (or Fuzz, but that's another story...). In fact, Nestle just turned 14 years old yesterday. Our pets are getting old. Hershey will still always be my pup though. My parents were just in town for a couple of weeks and they brought her up. Big dogs are the only way to go. Any dog smaller than Hershey is just an annoying yapper. Sorry if you think otherwise, but it's true :) When we got Hershey, she looked like this.

Aaaah, so cute! We thought she was a beagle, but she just kept growing and growing. She's been the best dog ever.