We were still in Southlake when she came to us. Late one night, I got a call from the police dispatcher saying that one of their officers had just called saying he had found a dog on the side of the road and she appeared to be trying to deliver pups. They called the humane society but no one could come out so the dispatcher called us. When I got to where she was, sure enough, she was trying to have them but was having a lot of trouble. I hasten to mention, she was huge. She’s a Black Lab and with a tummy full of puppies, getting her into the truck was no small feat. The officer and I got her loaded and I took her home and made a place for her in the garage. All night long a friend and I kept vigil. At the time we thought she was just having puppies. Early the next morning, she still had not delivered so I got her to the vet. They had to do a c-section. The puppies were not to term and did not survive. Come to find out, she had been hit by a car and that had induced early labor. We went ahead and spayed her after delivering the puppies. She also had a dislocated hip and her tail had been separated from her spine. A few days later, she had surgery to put the hip back in place and her tail had to be amputated. We also found out, she had heartworms. Mama was already an old girl and we weren’t sure she would survive the heartworm treatment, besides, we had limited funds and we were looking at an enormous expense. Meanwhile, the vet, had taken to her and wanted her for his own. He donated the surgeries and the heartworm treatment and some kind soul donated $75.00. The bill came to $1,200.00. You don’t find many vets like that. When the time came for him to take her home, his wife allowed that this was not going to happen so home she came with me.

This all happened in 1992 and she is still with us. We won’t go into how much she weighs now or how old she is. Girls have to have some secrets. All Ol Momma does is eat and sleep. Every now and then you’ll see her get a burst of energy and act like a pup, especially when she needs to go do her business or eat. She has a baby bed mattress that is hers and hers alone and if anyone dares to get near it, regardless if she happens to be on it or not, she is quick to let them know about it. Also, you just don’t wake her up.

Now, I don’t expect people to beat down our door to adopt this old darling but she deserves to have her story told. She has a place here for as long as she lives. She will be buried in our little cemetery, Angels Rest, when the time comes but I don’t think it will be soon. I expect I could live forever too if all I did was eat and sleep.

Ol' Momma crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in October, 2003.