Godspeed, Queenie Beanie.

[Twisterdog]

Today we had Queenie euthanized. She was in kidney failure. The vet estimated her to be 17 to 18 years old. Not bad for a three-legged sheep dog.

She spent her days protecting my son ... from low flying geese, airplanes, his friends, and the shadows of clouds. She herded everything, including my son and his friends. She would chase a ball with the fastest of the four-legged pack anyday.

My son picked her out at death row at animal control when he was three years old. He passed up all the pretty dogs and chose the old, fat, three-legged one. He looked up at me with those big brown eyes full of tears and whispered, "But Mommy ... no one else will love a doggie with only three legs." She came home. And she never, ever forgot the debt she owed him.

Godspeed, Queenie of the Green Beanie Weanies. We will never forget the debt we owe you, old girl.