Daisy

We got Daisy from a shelter five years ago. She was just a puppy and the last of her siblings to find a home. The first thing she did when she met us was to jump in my lap and bite me on the arm. Despite that, one look in those big brown eyes and we were sunk.

The first thing she did when she came home was destroy everything. She ate two couches, two wing back chairs, a coffee table, and two end tables. She ripped up the carpet in the living room, chewed holes in the walls, and ate our oak banisters.

That doesn't count all of the little things she ate, like half of my shoes, several pairs of eyeglasses, a PDA, a couple of cell phones, a tube of green oil paint (there goes the rest of the carpet), a TV remote, countless pens, the buttons off of several shirts, and several bottles of prescription medicine. She got to know the vet really well while she was growing up.

It's a good thing she's cute! I sometimes worry about her littermates. If they're anything like she was, I imagine some of them ended up back in the shelter.

Even though she was destructive, she was always such a little love. She really did want to be good and was always eager to please. I know she would have been devastated to realize that she ever caused us any distress.

Daisy weighs about 85 pounds and is very tall and thin. Her mother was a lab, but everyone seems to think she has some greyhound in her. Boy can she run!

Despite her size and a bark that has the neighbor kids in fear, she's a little bit of a chicken. She huddles behind mom and dad whenever there's a scary noise and won't go in the yard when it's raining. (I know for a fact that she can go a full 24 hours without going to the bathroom.) She's been known to run in terror from my brother's little 5 pound miniature Dashound.

Daisy doesn't know that she's a big dog. If there's a lap, she's on it, all 85 pounds of her. She sleeps in the bed with us and likes to snuggle in as close as she can get. She also likes to sleep with her head on a pillow and has been known to burrow under the covers.

My favorite thing about Daisy is in the mornings when she first wakes up, she'll sit on you so you can't get up until you've given her loves. She likes to press her forehead against yours, or to lean into you as close as she can get while you pet her. Be careful though, she'll try to slip her tongue in your mouth if you let your guard down! I made the mistake of getting too close while she was eating once and ended up sharing her breakfast.