Audrey:: A Tribute-

My Belgian Malinois, Maisy was the best dog anyone could ask for. She passed away last July from a battle with cancer. She had the cancer for about a year or two but it didn't seem to bother her so we let her be. We knew that if we took her to the vet they'd yell us to put her down. Which we didn't want to do because she was a seemingly happy dog.

She was inteligent oh boy was she inteligent. She was a genius!! She had basic command training down pat after 4-6 weeks!

She was my Service Dog. She saved my life on many occasions. I remember she used to "herd" us kids. She'd NEVER let any of us 9 kids out of her sight!!

When she was a puppy she'd chew EVERYTHING!! It didn't matter if it was the brand new see-saw, the sandbox toys or mom's marble coffee table. Everything was her own personal chew toy.

She knew from when she was a puppy that she was my "guardian." Whether it be from strangers, cars, or other dogs. It didn't make any difference to her. All she knew is that I needed a constant set of eyes kept on and she was willingly that set of eyes.

As she got older and the other ASD kids came along she kept somewhat of an eye on them but her main priority was me.

After we moved to Florida I used to take her on "20 minute runs" even though she was 8 years old. I would ride my bike and she would run along beside me. That was her (and my) exercise for the day. I didn't go to terribly fast but fast enough so that she could keep up.

She was a gentle giant. She weighed about 70-80lbs (I'm guessing). She wouldn't harm anyone UNLESS they were messing with her "people" mainly me. She'd make it be know that she didn't like what ever they were doing and that if they'd better stop or else they'd have a chunk taken out of them. But she never bit anyone. Never snapped at one of the kids. Never snapped when she had arthritis in her back end. She was so gentle. She never jumped. She never ran at one of the kids and toppled them over.

She was a very extremely "active dog". She used to run for hours from one end of the yard to the other (all fenced) "chasing" cars. She probably ran around 6 miles a day in her younger years.

I miss everything about her.