Mandy loved teddy bears above all other toys and when she became excited, she'd take her teddy bear and shake it and
playfully growl. When we had been away from home and returned, she grabbed the teddy bear and offered it as a "prize."
I still have the first teddy bear, though tattered and torn, and I had always intended to place it with her when her time
came to go to the Bridge... I wiull keep it in a safe place and maybe one day we will know where Mandy is...
Mandy quickly learned that our cats and other dog was part of her family and she was to treat them as such. A sighting
of an
outdoor cat, though, would set off a frenzy! The outdoor cats in the area in which we lived were many and they loved
to terrorize the wild birds at my feeders. So, I sent Mandy on a mission... When I crept slowly to the door and whispered,
"Mandy get ready," she would know what to do. As soon as I opened the door, she shot out and chased away the cats a few hundred
yards away. She never once caught a cat and if she had, I don't believe she would have caused it any harm. It was a game to
her - a favorite game.
We played "The Claw" with her which was a made up game where I would cup my hand and slowly move it to Mandy's face,
grabbing her head and giving it a little shake. After so many times of this, all I had to say to her was, "Do you want me
to use the claw" and she'd begin barking. And I'd laugh...
When offered a treat, Mandy would "sit pretty," something that just came naturally for her. After all these years, we
don't have one photo of her doing this.
Mandy was a delight. She was well-mannered, quiet, and never asked for anything more than time and attention. Which she
got plenty of! She played well with her adopted brother, Mr. Higgins, until Mr. Higgins began growing older.
