Shana a wonderful dog!

Yesterday May 23rd, 2012 was a very sad day for the Richter house hold.   One of our doggies died.  She was 12 1/2 years old, a black lab, and the most well behaved dog I have ever met.  She was wonderful!  I remember the first time she played fetch with one of our friends kids.  The boy would throw the ball, Shana would go get the ball and take the ball further out in the field for the boy to come and get it.  They played this game for like a half an hour.  It was funny.
Shana was 6 months old when we got her as a puppy.  We got her from a little Mexican man in Almond Wisconsin.  He was nice.  Shana cane with her dog house, her food, her leech, and her collar.  She was ready for us when we got her, which was really nice.  The one thing that I fell in love with was that Shana put her paws in my hands and slowly drifted off to sleep while I was petting her.  She almost fell over in the breezeway while I was petting her.  She was such a mellow mannered dog.
About five years ago, she went out into the field to chase a cat, or what she thought was a cat and it turned into being a skunk, the skunk sprayed her directly in the face.   She went completely blind in both eyes a year to the date of getting sprayed.  She wasn't so bad as a blind dog, she knew exactly where everything was.  She was an amazing dog.  She was however, a little bigger dog than expected, but I was always happy she could find her dish; being blind and all.
About a month ago, she stopped eating for the most part. That wasn't Shana because she always ate her whole dish of food everyday.  I knew the end was in sight..  I just never wanted to think about it or wanted it to happen.  
On Friday,  I brushed Shana really good and gave her a bath, I used shampoo and everything.   I think she really enjoyed her last bath and brushing.  She always loved to be brushed.  She was always a wonderful dog.  I don't think I ever yelled at her a day in her life.
On Wednesday, Shana decided that she had enough and she went to puppy heaven.  She was  in her favorite spot when she died and her head was in my lap.  She looked very comfortable and at peace.  Dale dug a nice hole to bury her in, by our beautiful pine trees and our landscaping. Dale gave Shana, her last ride on the truck bed to her resting place and then we covered her up in her favorite blanket and  buried her.  It was one of the saddest days in my life.  I lost a true friend.
May you be running through fields full of flowers and may you be swimming in the bluest and clearest of waters.  You were and an amazing friend and the most wonderful dog anyone could have asked for.  You will be missed.  I love you Shana!!!