By Debbie: This is the story of our beloved Shetland Sheepdog. I got Mack as a puppy from an Amish farm in Ohio. He came over to me, he was the quiet, tiny one, and looked up lovingly as if to say "I'm ready to go home now". Our friend Char drove us home (he threw up in her car at once). Mack was a mess and I tried to clean him up before his Daddy came home. The first night, in a box next to our bed, he had horrible gas! He was fed cornmeal mush on the farm and we called him "Corn-o" as a nickname. Mack was the best, smartest, sweetest little puppy and he was so much fun. He did silly things like play "rocket puppy" by running all over the house as fast as he could. He would get excited when anyone came over and leap from the sofa to the chair, back and forth. As he got older, he became a tad bit "TOO" territorial and began to nip the leg of anyone who entered his yard or house. (This we were told was his instinct to protect his herd, us.) Once inside, he was fine. But as soon as you got up to leave, he started barking and would nip at you again. (This was him trying to keep the herd together and not let anyone stray.) Let's see, he got Char and her new pants, our nephew Gary, our neighbor John, the kids' friends, and of course, all of us. He just didn't like anyone to leave! Mack would sit, speak, laydown, rollover, shake hands, and anything else for a treat! Although I bought Mack as a surprise for Bobby, and although he loved each of us, he was MY dog. He would follow me wherever I was in the house and settle down near my feet. When he grew old and sickly, and had trouble getting up, he would yip for me to come and get him. I felt so bad for getting frustrated with him when he got to be a real handful, needed so much attention and work. And then, the day we had to decide the poor old fellow had gone through enough, I felt guilty for making that decision, too. The last year of Mackie's life, he had some good days and some bad ones. He went through alot and Bobby made sure we got the best care for him, through one illness after another. The last two days of his life, he stopped eating, looked listless, didn't want to move, and finally, he couldn't stand. It broke our hearts to see him like that and January 23rd, we called the vet. Our vets, Dr. Shoemaker and Dr. Hyatt, were the kindest, most loving doctors Mack could have had, and then Dr. Hyatt did this last service for us. I'll just say, after alot of cuddling and kissing, we gave the ok, and our little Mack went peacefully, quickly, to sleep. We had planned to have mack freeze-dried so he could always be with us. But his bouts in the hospital left his bib and all four legs shaved so badly, he wouldn't have looked like his pretty self. We had him cremated instead. Now he is at home with us, in a lovely walnut box, engraved in memory, next to our last picture of him. We have a clipping of his fur, too, yet, none of this is enough. I just want him back and I don't know how long it will be until I stop crying and missing him. I love you Mackie, and as stated in the Rainbow Bridge, I hope you are somewhere beautiful, you are healthy and happy, and just waiting for us to join you. Love, Mommy From Bob: Mack was an amazing, intelligent dog. When I first saw him, he was having a bad day just having been car sick. But he soon recovered and showed what an alert playful personality he had. I remember we had a sound activated battery powered mechanical penguin that Mack would bark at and chase around continually. We also had big beach ball which he was scared of and would come and hide from it behind our legs. He always loved to go "Walkies" and would get excited every time you said the word. He was a panhandler and would always sit by us during mealtimes and paw us and yip from time to time just to let us know he was there. One time he was looking very pretty, so I asked him, "Mackie, could you look any prettier?" He promptly raised his right leg ala Lassie as if to say "Yes I can". In the mornings when I would have a bowl of cereal, he would always wake up and come out and wait until I was done so he could drink the remainder of the milk. But he also knew the difference between a weekday and a weekend - He was so intelligent. Now that he is gone, our yorkie, Pookie has changed her behavior, like playing with some of Mackie's old toys, getting into the trash cans, she's back eating food again (she would only eat what Mack would eat and at the end, Mack stopped eating and Pookie would only eat when she was starving). She's also started laying under the table in our living room where we now have Mack in a walnut box. It's almost as if she knows where he is now. Having to finally face facts and make the decision to release Mack was about the hardest thing I've had to do. I got to hold and cuddle with him at the end and still remember how soft and silky he was and how good he smelled. Bye, Mackie, we'll see you again someday and we'll go walkies again.

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