Phoebe
We got Phoebe from Polaris in 2000. She had been abused and abandoned at the shelter by her former owner. Because of this she was always very shy around new people. When we met Phoebe for the first time she crawled under one of the cars as much as she could and when I tried to pet her she snapped at me. It was love at first sight. Phoebe turned out to be one if the most affectionate and happiest dogs I've ever met, and remained so right up to the end. She was never particularly healthy. Her vet bills were as high as our other dogs and cats put together, and she was one one form of medication or treatment for most of the 11 years we had her, but it was a small price to pay for the love she gave all of us. I'll never forget how she would sing for her dinner, or when she pulled me off my feet chasing after a flock of geese, or how much she liked to cuddle. Despite being afraid of adults, she was very fond of other animals and children. In 2009 we had a tumor removed from her liver that was the size of a baseball. A week later I had to confine her lest she pop her staples playing with the other dogs. One year after that, on her 4th quarterly ultrasound, we found out that while her liver cancer had not come back, she had an inoperable tumor on her adrenal gland. Another scan confirmed it was there and growing very rapidly. The vets gave her 1 month to live without treatment, or 6 months if she went on medication, including daily oral chemotherapy. She lasted almost exactly 12 months on medication with very few negative side effects. A fortunate side effect of one of her meds was that it helped with her arthritis, so during those 12 months she was more active than she'd been in years. Her last year was spent with walks and playing chase with the other dogs. That was the case until just 2 days before her tumor caused her to begin bleeding internally. We should all be so lucky. We all miss Phoebe, but she's in a better place now and we're happy for that. Thank you to the folks at Polaris for blessing us with a kind soul and a great friend. Joe Carlson, Anette Anderson, Mollie, Hurley, Max, Paige, & Oscar