She was a great friend to us. She was quite shy when we first brought her home. She sat in my lap the entire first day and we formed a very strong bond. She would often try to be a lap dog, even after she was 36" at the shoulder and weighed 135 pounds!  She was definitely a tall dog! She would often greet me with a hug by jumping up on my shoulder and giving kisses.

As a puppy, we tried socializing her by taking her to the park but the strange sights and sounds caused her to try to hide under the car. But we persisted and continued to socialize her taking her to obedience classes, to the park and with us around town. Although never outgoing, eventually she overcame her shyness and came into her own. We continued with obedience and tried our hands at agility.

Unfortantely, she was unlucky too. She was diagnosed with hip dysplasia by the time she was two years old. Just before her third birthday she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right foreleg.  Because of her size and hip dysplasia we couldn't amputate. We had hoped that with radiation therapy to reduce the pain she would be able to live with a good quality of life, at least for a while. On June 22nd we noticed her entire leg was terribly swollen and took her to the vet. The x-rays confirmed our fears that she had suffered a pathological brake and there was nothing more we could do for her. So on Tuesday morning, Katie crossed over the rainbow bridge waiting to greet us when we join her.