This is my pet dog Elise. I've had her since birth and for the last 15 years. Originally she was my eldest brothers, where in her early days of life she was confined to a cage while he was at work. When I got home from school I would take her out in our yard and play with her and did this in secret. My brother never knew I did that. Eventually my brother couldn't care for her and gave her to me and my family. Ever since then she's been a dear friend to me. When she was younger she was a brave and very protective; barking and running up to strangers and when stray dogs came into our yard she didn't hesitate to strike at them. We didn't need to keep her in a dog run or on a leash, while illegal she never strayed far during the day. She'd lay around on our picnic table in the back yard and wait for someone to come home. I was the one to train her, I house trained her, taught her to sit, lay down, and to jump up for treats.

There was one time when we came home one day and she was covered in blood. When we looked around at her dog house, we found that she had dragged the head of a deer into our yard. Whether she killed it or found it dead already I don't know; but the blood was fresh enough to get all over her. While my family expected her to be an outdoor dog she did not want that life. Eventually, in our old house, she had learned to open our back door if it wasn't locked and force her way inside.

One day things changed. We were going on vacation for about 4 days, we had a house sitter that came every day but didn't stay. When we came home, I found her lying in my bed, her hair was all over it showing she was there a while or just stayed there all together. She was ecstatic to see me, her stubby tail couldn't contain it so her entire rear was shaking. After that, she became a lot more docile, not really approaching strangers and actually fearing them. After that point, any time anyone new came to the house or around she would bark at them, but also move to where I was and bark from behind me. When I didn't go to the gym and would just run I remember I would put her collar on and take her to a park no one really visited and I would run around it and she would follow me off the leash. Then when I stopped for a breather she would just wander around but never go far.

Her affection grew more, to the point where if I was sitting anywhere near her she would wander over to me, and force her snout on my lap or my hand if it was in my lap. During thunder storms she was terrified, all the way up to today whenever a crash would sound she would come to my room and lay down near me. She did this sometimes just to bother me, more than once coming into my room, laying down, farting abruptly, then bailing back out. One time there was a very big thunder storm, the room she was allowed in was on one side of the house, and my room was on the second floor with the stairs on the other side. I remember playing on my PC, hearing a very close crash then suddenly a scutter. I took off my headphones and looked around only to see her coming up and jumping on my couch.

She has had two litters of puppies, all of which went to good homes. She was very protective over them, but for some reason they were second when it came to me. I was really upset at her one time when I came home from work one day to her jumping up to see me while her pups were feeding.

She's been a tremendous emotional support for me, and hates fighting; to the point if she hears people yelling at each other she barks at whoever she knows less. Now to the sad parts. Lately, her furs been falling out, and this week she's slowly been struggling to walk up to today where she was completely paralyzed in her hind section and she isn't able to hold her bladder. I could have never asked for a better friend, she's been there every time I've been sad and needed a hug and didn't want to tell anyone I was sad. Every day I would come home to her happy face and pet her hello as she buried her face in between my legs, and she would eventually put her rear to me and look at me, expecting to scratch where she couldn't reach and have her kick her leg (I think she had really dry skin under her fur). I never like saying goodbye until the end, and when I have to do it I barely have the strength to do it.

Goodbye Elise, there will never be someone as close to me as you were.