Windy's Page

Windy's Page

Windy was born in Jan. of 1975. We had to put her to sleep in May of 1991. She'd had a good life, but it was time. We got her in March of 1975. The day we got her was very windy and she was so tiny, she kept getting blown over. Windy became her name. Although she looked Shepherd, she was not a pure bred. She was 3/4 Shepherd and 1/4 Collie. But what an animal! Through her I learned to love and respect the GSD. She had enough of that noble ancestry for the courage and loyalty to shine through.

Annie had always loved German Shepherds, but I had been leery of them. I knew their valiant reputation, but I always feared that underneath lay a mean streak. I now know, the only GSD's with so-called 'mean' streaks are those that were abused, mishandled, and poorly or improperly trained. The genetics of the GSD breed produces a strong, dedicated, loyal, courageous animal, that while sometimes a bit aloof, gives and is ready to receive an abundance of love. Windy taught me that.

For the first few years
of Windy's life,
we lived on the shore
of the Chesapeake Bay.
Windy loved to swim.

She would retrieve whatever
you threw and wait for you
to throw it again.
If you threw a stone,
she would even dive underwater
and bring back the exact stone
you had thrown.

Annie built a handle near the bottom of the screen door, and taught Windy to open the door herself in only three demonstrations. From then on, in the warmer months, Windy would come and go as she pleased. She would swim, wander the beach and make friends. Many people we had never met, knew Windy. She was a fixture of the Point-No-Point (that's really the name) beach area. She even went swimming in the winter. Many times she'd come home with icicles hanging from her fur. One winter the Bay froze for several hundred feet from shore. I spotted Windy happily running back to shore on the shifting ice after her morning dip. Scared the devil out of us, didn't phase her a bit!

Eventually Windy got old and tired.

She could not even manage the two steps on or off our deck. Annie invented a sling so we could help her. We even provided a low stool so she could sit while she ate.

By May of 1991, we knew it was time. With tears in our eyes, we made the only decision we could and asked our vet to do what had to be done.

At first we said, "no more dogs". However, because of the joyful memories and some straight talk from our vet, in a few months we began again. Because of Windy, the first dog and those that followed are all and will only be GSDs.

The greatest honor and respect you can give to an animal that has passed on, is to get another and give it the same attention, training and LOVE!

Windy's Background Music is TARA's THEME from
GONE WITH THE WIND.

The GSD pages that follow, the path taken and
described and the development of our 'pack' are dedicated to WINDY.

You can go right to the GSD Menu page from here.
Windy, about 11 years old.

Special Thanks to David McDonnell for memorializing Windy's opening picture!

A Story For Our Time
A Tale of Courage and Grit ~ With a Twist

A Rousing Adventure
Available Now!

Counter for this page only. visitors since 19 Nov. 1997
Main Site counter on Home Page

Thank you, Sandi

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page

Last Update: 09/22/02
Web Author: Charlie Joseph
Copyright Š2002 by Patuxent Communications - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED