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Pip

On October 15th, 2001 we met the ‘animal love of our lives’! Pip was the leader of a litter of 13 Australian Shepherd puppies. They came scrambling toward us from a barn and Pip was leading the pack! It was hard to not be overwhelmed by 13 bundles of cuteness and fluff; but somehow we settled down and focused on the Blue Merle little girl! She whined a bit on the 2-hour car ride home; but from the first moment on she was a trooper! Slept through the nights immediately, NEVER had a housebreaking accident, and listened to every command with rapt attention!

This memorial would go on for pages if I listed every wonderous thing that Pip did throughout her 16 years…

  • She held her own leash when walking and healed perfectly.
  • She learned to fetch our newspaper at 10 weeks and was a ‘fetcher’ of everything until the very end! The morning she passed away; she helped fetch groceries from my car! She ran towels and ice to Jerry when he fell and cut his head out by the barn, she ran cold soda to us in the garden (only once piercing a can with her teeth!), she fetched tools, bird feeders fallen from the tree, keys, and of course her favorite balls, footballs, and Frisbees.
  • She was not a super cuddly dog or a dog that would nuzzle you if you were sad – She made you feel better by making you laugh!
  • She loved to toss her rawhide chews high in the air and catch them. She did it again and again -until you clapped and said “Hurray!”, or else she vigorously scolded you!
  • She loved to talk back to us and to the television! How I wish I had a video of her many times seeing something on tv and saying, “OH NO!” so perfectly!
  • She had a collection of stuffed footballs that she loved to hold and knead (like a kitten)- her ‘security footballs’. She seemed to know when it was time to pull out the Packer ball or the Badger ball!
  • She loved watching and commenting on America’s Funniest Home Videos and the “News Hounds” on the local TV station.

Pip the Austrailian shephard with security footballEveryone loved Pip! She will be so missed!

Our cat Toby was a teenage stray that adopted Pip one morning as she fetched the paper! Toby loved Pip and only Pip! How did cats know she was a sweetheart!?! Our two feral barn cats loved her too! Rest in peace dear Pip! You were a true original!

From: Jerry and Jolynn