Cowgirl looking the part!

Cowgirl was given to me before she was even born, a few days after she was born I went to pick out a puppy and she picked me. I would go and see her every week and she knew I belonged to her. At five weeks I got the call come get her...my life changed on that March 21, 1990 day.

She gave me love every day of her life. Cowgirl was a wonderful, good girl, she had a wonderful happy spoiled life, she gave me precious memories of her that have filled my heart. She meant everything to me.

A long day of checking the pool for the Loch Ness Monster and a well deserved rest afterward in a chair befitting our lifeguard!

"Go ahead, make my day!"

Cowgirl's favorite things and the things she loved…

Cowgirl, Missymoo, Honeybear, or Baby Girl, whichever name you called she knew. She was a Frisbee player who loved to go to the park. She loved food, being with her mommy especially outside, she loved riding in the truck (she knew it as bye byes), playing with all her toys, drinking ice cold water, working out and swimming in the pool. She really loved her dog treats and candy, lying on the cold tile. Christmas was her favorite holiday (as a neighbour once said Cowgirl got more toys than her four kids!). She loved camping only because she got to sleep with her mommy and liked taking the whole bed. She had to have the last bite of your food, but most of all she loved kisses and being touched.

Rembrances…

Cowgirl loved people and was very friendly, but she liked to show people she was tough and fearless…in reality she would run to another room if a fly was in the same room! She hated bugs, they scared her. Other things that scared her were loud noises, beepers, car alarms, thunder, fireworks and the words "Boogie Man is coming"…they would make her run and jump on the couch.

She was very smart, she knew all her commands. People often commented on how smart she was or that she was the smartest dog they'd ever met. Cowgirl was so smart that we had to start spelling words in front of her but after a while she even learned to spell! She knew all her toys by their names and she had a lot of toys as shown in the pictures below of her toy chest!

Under our Christmas tree one year were approximately forty gifts and I'd put Cowgirl's six gifts all intermixed with the rest when she wasn't looking. I left later that day and when I returned Cowgirl has found and opened four of her six presents! After that we had to wait until Christmas Eve to put her presents under the tree. She always knew when Santa had arrived and she could open her presents.

When she wanted a goodie, she would give you such an intense look and as you repeated "no" the look would get more intense. You knew what she wanted and she knew you would eventually give in and she'd continue that look until you did! When you would ask "what do you want?" she'd run to the cabinet that had the goodies!

Save the last bite for me…

Cowgirl loved food. She could eat then eat again. She was always on the hunt for food, the garbage the counters or the last bite of your food. The more the food on your plate dwindled, the more restless she got, going from one side of your chair to the other to make it known she was there and wanted the last bite. It wouldn't matter if it was chicken or grapefruit, she loved it all! This love of food was an early development, when she was a puppy she was the first in her litter to find and eat food and she also figured out how to lay across the plate so the other puppies didn't have easy access and more food for her!

Karen tells this story…"My Mom came to stay and take care of the dogs while we went away, I think just for a weekend. We gave her instructions and a warning "DO NOT LEAVE FOOD ON THE COUNTER OR WHERE COWGIRL CAN GET AT IT"! That night she cooked a roast beef, wrapped it in foil and set it up. She called and asked my brother to come join her for a roast beef dinner. She had a couple of glasses of wine before he got there. When they went to eat the roast, it was gone. Mom swoare she left it right there, my brother thought she'd had too much wine and there never was any roast beef. My Mom went crazy looking all over the house for the beef, and to humor her my brother said "maybe the dog got it". Mom said "no that can't be, first she wouldn't be able to finish it all and we would see foil and pieces of meat around". The next morning there was the evidence…a small piece of foil in the back yard and one dog with a very upset tummy!"

Another story Karen tells is…"I changed jobs and went from nursing attire to more business wear. I was trying hard to find comfortable shoes and after a long search I found Naturalizers. They were a lot of money but worth it so I tried every payday to get a pair of a different color to match my suits. It took a while but finally I had what I needed, white, black, blue and brown. One day Cowgirl didn't want me to go to work, she wanted me to stay with her. When I got home she'd left me a message telling me so, for in a pile in the middle of the living room was one shoe from each pair, chewed up! Along with the pile was one Nike tennis shoe, an added bonus! I still can't believe this to this day!!!"

Another precious memory…

Camping…while camping at the Grand Canyon in a 2 room tent during monsoon season, bugs descended from evergreen trees by the hundreds while we were sitting by the fire. The bugs were about an inch long but the shadow from the fire sent their reflections on the tent so that they looked about 2 feet long! Cowgirl and her brother B saw these shadows and feared for their lives….this was enough wildness camping for them. I'm sure Cowgirl was relieved when we bought an enclosed camper!

Eight months ago we found out she had Lymphosarcoma cancer and we started chemo right away...every month we would go, but the cancer was too strong. I lost Cowgirl on January 25, 2000. I will away miss her, but it lightens my heart to know she is with my brother who gave her to me.

We have so many precious memories of our Cowgirl and we could go on forever with stories about the funny and wonderful things she did. She made our life much brighter and one day I will be with her again. Cowgirl was a BRAVE GIRL who loved me dearly. (signed)Cowgirls Mommy

Cowgirl was owned, loved and is sadly missed Pam O'Neil.