My oldest son was preparing to leave the very next day for an enlistment in the U.S. Navy, so I guess you could say she would be his replacement. That first night when she started to whimper for her missing mother and siblings, I didn't hesitate to take her into the bed with me. She snuggled up in the crook of my arm with her paws on top the covers and her head resting on my shoulder and went right to sleep.

I gave her the name Lambchop because she looked like a little fluffy lamb in need of sheering! I knew that her mother looked like a dustmop with legs, but had no clue to her father's heritage. On her first trip to the vet, my curiosity was satisfied when he said she was a poodle-mix. Now I knew what kind of father she had! As she grew, she continued to have long hair like mom but it wasn't quite a curly as her father's must have been. I kept it shorter for her in the summer months and let it grow into a nice warm coat for the cooler weather of fall and winter. She would sulk for a few days right after a haircut, but always forgave me within a short while.

There are so many sweet memories I have of all those years we spent together. She was a healthy, happy little girl and gave much more love than she got in return. Though I gave her as much as I could, what with 3 human children and a full-time job, she often got slighted somewhat. But she never complained, curling up next to me on the sofa for her naps and sleeping beside my feet to help keep us both warm in bed. Sometimes she would lay next to me and I would "spoon" her into the curl of my body and she would rest her head on the pillow beside me. She always did this when there was a thunderstorm. She was terrified of thunder and I would cuddle her and stroke her fur and try to reassure her that momma would keep her safe.

When she was about 2 years old, she "played house" with the dog next door and we fould ourselves with 2 pups to find homes for a few months later. She had 5 more babies about a year later that were fathered by one of my kid's dogs, a chow-mix. After we finally found placement for those pups, she made a trip to the vet and got "fixed" so that wouldn't happen again.

She got along well with children, even babies who would sometimes pull her hair and ears. She would hide from them if they were too rough, rather than try to bite them. She even got along well with cats, not exactly being friends with them, but at least tolerating their presence. She did, however, chase strange cats out of "her" yard if by chance they wandered in. She was an excellent judge of character, too. She would growl and snarl at some of the kids who came over to visit with one of my boys. Later on, those same kids were in trouble with the justice system! She never made a mistake with her character references! I used her for making decisions about which of their buddies they could hang out with.

She was my best friend. She listened when I talked to her about my problems, she never made any judgements about what I did. She let me cry on her shoulder when I needed to and she would celebrate with me when I was happy. She was there for me when I lost each of my parents, seeming to understand the pain I was feeling. She was the one who listed to my troubles and helped me get through 2 divorces from the same man. I used her judge of character in helping me decide about dating again. If she didn't seem to warm right up to guys, then I didn't even think about getting into a serious relationship with them. She took right to my present husband, doing her little happy dance every time he came in. She was smart in other ways, too. She was about 12 years old when I discovered that if she wanted to come inside through the front door, she could open it from outside by herself as long as she only had to open the storm door. She would use her front paw to pull it open enough to put her nose inside, then push it open far enough to walk right on in.

Lambchop would have celebrated her 15th birthday on Valentines Day of 2002. On September 29th, she went out to make her morning rounds. She had been outside about 10 minutes and as she was getting back up onto the porch steps, she must have jumped and missed the step, as I heard her start crying loudly in pain. When I opened the door for her she was standing on 3 legs, but stopped crying at once. She limped into the house and I saw her right back leg swinging from side to side. I knew at once that it was broken. I rushed her to the vet and after doing x-rays and some lab work, was told he could set the leg without surgery. Her lab work showed she needed a special diet since her kidney function was abnormal, but he thought this would resolve itself on the diet. Otherwise she was in good shape for a 14+ year old dog. That day when he weighed her, she weighed in at 12.6 pounds. I had to leave her there for the week-end, but was able to pick her up on Monday morning. She looked so sad with the cast on her leg, but she was making an effort to limp around once I had her home. She wanted to get up next to me on the sofa, but I made her stay in her own bed, since I feared she would fall and injure herself more if she tried to get back down alone. I sleep in the daytime since I work nights, so I made my bed on the sofa and placed her bed in the floor so I could sleep with my hand down on her back in case she stirred and needed something. I carried her in and out to do her business on a regular schedule and she was doing really well learning to get around with her cast.

I had asked a month ahead for a few days off from work and my husband and I had planned a short trip to the mountains to see the fall colors. I made arrangements for Lambchop to stay with my son. I gave him all the instructions for her food and her special needs and we left her with him on Friday morning. I told her I loved her and I would be back to get her on Sunday. Then I kissed her on top of her little head and said "Good-bye Baby-girl. Be a good girl and I'll be back soon". That was the last time I saw my precious little Lambchop.

When we returned home on Sunday, we unloaded the car then went to my son's to pick up my baby-girl. My son met me when I pulled into the drive. He said "Lambchop's gone" My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. He told me that she wanted to go out early that morning so he took her out onto the porch. He said she stood there "just sniffing the air" and didn't seem to want to go on about her business. It was quite cool outside that morning and, as he wasn't dressed for a walk in the yard, he stepped back inside to give her some time. He said he waited about 15 minutes then went back out on the porch to call her back inside. He couldn't find her in the front yard. It was still dark so he went back in to wait for daylight in about 30 more minutes. Once it was light enough, he went out and looked all over his yard as well as his neighbors. He then started driving up and down the road all over his neighborhood, but had not seen her anywhere. We spent the better part of 2 hours driving up and down all the roads and asking anyone we could find at home if they had seen her. My daughter-in-law was knocking on doors house to house to see if anyone had seen her or picked her up. Notes were placed in mailboxes where the people were not home. That night he got a call from a neighbor that saud she saw her that morning about 9:30 as she was going to church. The spot she identified was about a half mile from my son's. We looked again and again but no Lambchop.

The first thing Monday morning, I made calls to every animal clinic in town, the local animal shelter, radio stations, anything I could think of to see if someone had found her and taken her in waiting on someone to come looking for her. I made arrangements for an ad to be placed in the local paper for 3 days, but they said it wouldn't start until Tuesday. I waited and we continued to look all along the road between his house and mine. On Friday I got the call I had feared would come. A man said he knew where she was but he hadn't seen the ad in the paper untill Thursday night. He said he saw her sitting under some farm equipment just off the road on Sunday night as he was going to church. He said he spotted her the next morning a little distance away from there and she was lying on the side of the road and was still there. The place he pinpointed was 2 miles away from my son's and was an alternate way of getting to my house from his, but in a roundabout way. She was only 4 miles away from home, and we had been looking on the wrong roads! My son had gone that direction, but stopped just short of the road where she had been on Sunday night. He never thought she could have gotten that far limping on 3 legs and dragging a cast and neither did anyone else.

My son knocked on my front door just as I hung up the phone after thanking the man for telling me where to find her. We went to get her and though my son wouldn't let me see her, he said he didn't think she had been hit by a car. He believes her little heart just gave out from the effort of traveling all that way. Lambchop was in pretty good health, but it was just too much for her.

Her last ride brought her home where she belongs. She can now rest at peace in the back yard where she loved to run and play. I bought a stone to place over her head. It has an angel on it with open, welcoming arms. There are purple and white pansies blooming over her final resting place. She lies beside Jake, who was her protector in her younger years. Also out there along the fence lies Bubba, who was her last husband, and Morris, who she only knew briefly but who taught her that all cats aren't the enemy, as well as numerous other pets that came and went as my boys grew. There is a bird named Larry and a chicken that never had a name other than Hen. A statue of Saint Francis stands watch over the row.

One day as I was watering the flowers over her resting place, I saw a beautiful rainbow in the spray from the hose. It seemed to come right up out of her grave and arched across along the row of graves. There is only one thing that came to mind when I spied that rainbow...it was a sign from her that she will be waiting for me at Rainbow Bridge someday.

Although there may be others who will someday come into my life, I will never forget my precious Lambchop, my Baby-girl, my friend. I know in my heart that she will be waiting for me to pick her up at Rainbow Bridge so we can spend an eternity together. "Rest in peace, Lambchop. You will be in my heart til we meet again ."