Lady ...

"I still sometimes wonder how I wound up with Lady, 66 pounds of sheer exuberance (in public) and a floor rug in private. I merely attended the PINS humane society open house at the shelter in 2001 to visit our donated cat cage (we had four cats that RULE).

"However, I wound up gazing at the "little" dogs just out of curiosity. (Little dogs are practical, space-efficient, and they don't pull you off your feet.) 

"But of course the PINS staff (Claudia, as I recall) just had to show me Lady and her unique trick of hugging potential owners. I hadn't had my hug that day and it was love at first embrace. As it turned out, Lady was neither practical nor space efficient, and she pulled me off my feet at Claudia's obedience training class. But there's nothing like the unconditional love of a big dog and that welcoming hug when you walk in the door. The cats still don't think much of our new big lumpy throw rug, and Pat has tripped over her more than once at night, but we all love her and she's part of our family now. Oh, yea, Lady brought home her own white kitten on one of Steve and Lady's walks, so now the cats are five."