True love

We adopted Bernice first. As we got to know our first dog, we found that she loved puppies. Since she'd been spayed, she couldn't have any of her own. So, partly because we knew she loved puppies and partly to keep her company, we decided to get her a puppy. So we got Mandy. Mandy was three months old when we brought her home, and Bernice immediately adopted her.

She taught her that doggies go outside to do their business, as well as handling other important child-rearing tasks. She would tolerate things from Mandy that she'd tolerate from no one else, whether canine or human.

Once Mandy grew up, she started playing with her like another grown dog. They still were buddies, but the mother-daughter dynamic seemed to change. They spend every day together (with Dodger), but Bernice doesn't appear to fawn over the puppy anymore. And that's fine, since Mandy is now over six years old.

Yesterday, we took Mandy and Dodger to the vet. Dodger was due for a checkup. Mandy, on the other paw, had something we wanted the vet to check out. It appeared to be a small growth.

He checked it out and decided to remove it right away. We'd expected this, so we didn't let her eat or drink for over 12 hours before taking her in, thinking she might be put under.

He thinks (and we pray) that it's some benign thing--we'll know once the lab results come in--but he definitely felt it should come off. So we left her there for a few hours to get the surgery done. This left us to bring Dodger home alone.

When we got home with Dodger, Bernice took one look at us and Dodger without Mandy and started crying. She wouldn't stop. We tried to tell her it was okay. We tried to pet her and calm her down, but she just sat there and cried... and cried and cried and cried.

Poor Bernice didn't calm down until Mandy got home. Now they're happily reunited. I shouldn't be surprised. I know that dogs bring as pure a love as anyone could hope to experience, so why shouldn't it extend to each other? I guess the doggie rough-housing had me fooled. A mom's love for her puppy should never be sold short.