It was a sad day here yesterday. We lost our 12-year-old Yellow Lab, Shadow, to cancer. He hadn’t been the same since we lost our Dalmatian, Penny, a year ago. He had stayed by her side for weeks, keeping her warm and guarding her. He never wanted to leave the garage after that. It was as if he was expecting Penny to return. Of course, during this warm summer that we’ve had here in the Ohio Valley, his move out to cooler air was a must.

He would stand at the sliding glass door on the deck and bark until I went to give him two large bones. He would gobble them up and then trot off to rest. When I came home from Texas last week, I noticed a huge change in him. He no longer wanted to play with the little pups, and he didn’t bark for his treats. Yesterday morning, he was non responsive and lying in the garage. Lance took him to the vet, where we found out he had cancer and there wasn’t much we could do.

We named him Shadow because as a pup he would follow the girls around the house. It seemed so appropriate – their shadow. He was a neighborhood dog, roaming from house to house getting his daily lovin’ and treats. He made friends with the little boy down the street, whose family all but adopted him. They had a bed for him on their deck and when we were looking for him that was the first place we would go. He received Christmas cards from the neighbors, addressed to Mr. Shadow Cheever. Our little pups loved him and Miss Ellie will surely miss him. He was her boyfriend, even though he favored Sydney.

Shadow will be missed not only by us, but his neighborhood families as well. He was a gentle dog but also very protective. Sadly, the only picture I could find of him this morning is one from when we had the garage built and it is rather distorted and blurry.

The fence was down and he was chained by the tree to keep him out of the workers way. Of course, a fence was just there and didn’t do much to keep him in the yard. He could, and would, climb it to get out to roam from house to house. When he was ready to come home, he would once again climb the fence to get back in the yard. Such a fabulous dog!