Charlie

 We lost Charlie last January, but I still think of her often.  Every dog I've owned has been special, but Charlie stands out.

Cassie(L) & Charlie

We adopted her from the Lincoln Humane society about 8 years ago.  When we got her, they said she was between 3 and 7.  When she died, she was quite grey, and very lame (bad hips and elbows), so I'm guessing she was at least 5 or 6 when we got her, and possibly older.

Charlie was an amazing dog.  We brought her home on a Monday evening, then left her alone in the house the next day with our two cats - No Problem!  Charlie's only bad habit was she liked to open the refrigerator - didn't take anything, just browsing.  Of course, the day came when she helped herself, but that was a couple of years later.

Charlie jumped right into obedience classes, and did great.  It was hard for me to believe someone just dumped her at the humane society.  Charlie easily passed her Canine Good Citizen test, and later passed her Delta Dog test to become a pet-assisted therapy dog.  For several years she volunteered at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, visiting patients.   Charlie was a model, too - I used her in my marketing materials in my job as a Realtor at HOME Real Estate in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Charlie was retired from her Angel Dog duties a couple of years before she died.  About all she could do is be the "neutral dog" while testing new dogs for the program.  She struggled with walking and stairs, so we tried to limit her activity as much as possible.  She enjoyed life, right up until the end.

Charlie's real legacy is this - after being around her, my three adult kids have each adopted shelter or rescue dogs (and, of course, we've brought home two more).  In a very real sense, Charlie is responsible for 7 other dogs getting rescued!