Sweet Daisy

We've always been dog people. There have only been two days in my life that my family hasn't owned a dog, and those were in the summer of 2005.

In 2006, we had one little dog, Mini, who, it turned out, was incredibly mean and unfriendly. It wasn't her fault, per se, but she did bite and was not generally nice. She looked like a sweet puppy, so this was a problem and earned her a reputation. 

On July 2, 2006, Daisy entered the scene, 364 days after Mini. Their names were not intentionally the names of Disney characters, since we named Mini and Daisy came prenamed, at a year old. Daisy was sweet. She was the sort of dog a kid would want, always up to play, go for a run, or chase you around the yard. She was higher energy than any dog we'd ever had, and we lived in a neighborhood at the time, so that wasn't ideal. She'd dig under the fence and get under the house and out, running away all the time. She loved to join us in the car, on the boat, anywhere. She loved my brother, Scott most of all, and he loved her more. 

Here they are on the afternoon she came to live with us.

When we moved into a rural area with lots of land, Daisy was in heaven. She'd be gone for hours, chasing rabbits and deer, and you could sort of figure out where she was by her tell-tale hound dog bark. When she'd return, she'd sleep forever. We nicknamed her Lazy Daisy.

Even when my parents got another dog (told you they're dog people) in 2008, Daisy was still a favorite of the people in the house. The dogs perhaps did not agree. Over time, she became the big boss of the other two dogs and took to sleeping in a certain spot on the floor in front of Dad's TV room because she knew the little Jacks would never dare to try to step around her.

I love this picture of all the dogs, but particularly Daisy's picture face.

Over the past couple of years, Daisy slowly put on weight and slept more. She had more health issues and just wasn't feeling as well, so we all knew that even though she'd put on a show sometimes and howl at the top of her doggie lungs or hop up excitedly every once in awhile, she wasn't feeling okay, and it wouldn't be too much longer.

On October 22 in the yard at sunset, sweet Daisy died. It had been a hard few days for her and it was time, but it was sad, and as it will always be in the Norman family, there were tears. She was a sweet dog, a part of the family, and it will be sad to go home and not hear her bawl out a welcome to us. We miss you, Daisy girl!