Ode to Georgia

I adopted Georgia in September of 2011, shortly after the September 11th attacks. I had been dating Lee for five months, and with the uncertainty of his job and what happened, things started to fall apart a little. Since he was in the military, we both knew he would probably deploy somewhere. He couldn't tell me anything about a future or what would happen....or even that he wanted a serious relationship. What's a girl to do? I broke up with him and got a puppy. (The break up lasted all of two months.)

When I went to look at puppies in the kennel, I really did not know a thing about dogs or what I was getting myself into. What I did know was that puppies are cute, and at the time, that was enough for me.

Georgia was with a bunch of her litter mates in a very dirty and small crate. Some were all brown, and just a few of them had her coloring. I petted them all, and as I walked around, Georgia was biting her cage and completely freaking out. In my mind, I thought "She loves me!". Never did I think "neurotic"...

My mom was with me, and we thought it would be better if I came back the next day to get her. I didn't have a single dog item at home, even dog food, but I didn't want to leave her there crying. And so, I left there with a little spotted dog they told me would be between 35 and 50 pounds. (she tipped the scale at 90 during her "heavier" years). I named her Georgia.

She was CUTE. But she was also extremely destructive. The biting of the cage and freaking out when I first met her were very telling behaviors....Georgia had extreme separation anxiety. When I would go to work, or anywhere, she would completely freak out. I tried crating her, but she would shred whatever bedding was in the crate and thrash her body against the side of the crate until it was on the other side of the room. I was in a pretty small apartment at the time, so my solution was to just shut her in my bedroom.
She ate: my bed, my dresser, the underside of my box spring mattress, my stuffed dog Lemutt, my shoes, she opened drawers and chewed holes in my athletic clothes. She would pull down my pillows and anything on top of my bed and chew holes in it. (On a visit to Nana and Granddaddy's many months after Lee and I were back together, she ate a carpet and chest in their house, too)

At the time, I didn't know enough to realize she should probably be medicated...she needed some serious doggie prozac. Everyone told me to give her away, but I wouldn't do it...I just knew that things would somehow get better. And they did.

Despite her personality flaws, Georgia was my baby, and I treated her as one. I bought her a raincoat...

And dressed her up for the Easter parade. (I vaguely remember her eating a little boy's funnel cake)

I ended up moving to Charlottesville when she was about two, and things got a whole lot better. She was a different dog, and all the separation anxiety was gone. She had a huge yard to run in, and she loved being a girl in the country. She tree'd squirrels, sat on the porch, and took a lot of long walks. (On one walk, she was attacked by two German shepherds in the neighborhood and badly bitten. It took her a while to get over that and she was never really as comfortable with other dogs.)

After we were married, but before kids, Georgia was the focus of our Christmas card.

Each night, Lee would take her collar off so that she would be more comfortable as she slept. Then he would lay on the bed with her and hug her goodnight.

And then Colby came....and things changed. Georgia was still our dog, but she wasn't the main focus. And she seemed ok with that.

She was still part of our family.

(We took lots of walks on campus, and then one day, Georgia was hit by a bike. Again, that changed her for a while and she was terrified of bikes, but she eventually got over it)

Georgia could not have been a more gentle dog with the kids. She put up with a lot.

Pinches...

Pulls....

Loves...

And more.

As sweet as she was, she was not a guard dog.

She had the face of an angel (and least I thought so).

All through our photo albums, you can see Georgia right in the middle of it all.

She loved the water...

and walking through the grass.

She always got Christmas presents. (this was her last Christmas)

Georgia was a lot of things, but being a food thief is what she did best. Here she is...looking innocent....but waiting for her moment to strike.

Did I mention that GEORGIA LOVED FOOD? She was obsessed. It was her reason for waking in the morning and controlled most of her thinking. She was constantly stealing food from the kids or wherever she could find it, despite the fact that she was well fed (and over-weight). The poor girl was cursed with an insatiable appetite.

Despite her flaws, we loved her and she was the perfect dog for us.

We'll miss you sweet Georgia. Thank you for being such a wonderful dog. I hope you are up in doggie heaven chasing squirrels and laying in the sunshine. And eating.