This is a picture of Rosie. She was an escape artist to rival Harry Houdini! Even when she lost the use of her rear legs she still managed 3 "jailbreaks", ending up out of the fence and at the main road 150 feet away on two occasions.
Rosie was a "street dog". She lived most of her 13 plus years on the streets of Volcan in Chiriqui Province, western Panama. She had countless litters of puppies, some of whom have grown to be much larger than she was. She was able to escape from almost anywhere and so lived an independent life, even while claiming residence with me and my other two dogs.
Blue, my Red Heeler, and I took Rosie in about 3 years ago. Some wonderful folks had "rescued" her from a life of promiscuity and almost constant pregnancy. She became so possessive of them that she became a problem. She was a sweet dog but somewhat reserved until she got to know you...maybe 2 or 3 months. She was also very vocal and consistent about guarding "her home".
Rosie spent most of her life outdoors and that continued with me. My dogs have a "doggie door" so that they can go into the fenced back yard at anytime. Rosie took advantage of that fact quite often to slide her 22 inch high shoulders sideways under the chain-link fence to join me in the front yard, or to simply go on what the Aussies call a "Walkabout". She did this on a regular basis for the 2 years since we moved to our new house in the countryside.
She suddenly came down in pain and could not stand on her back legs on October 15. The pain went away in a couple of hours and we gave her intensive, around-the-clock care. She fought hard to recover, but she lost the battle 19 days later when we had to end her suffering.
She was the sweetest, most interesting, independent and loving dog that I have ever known. She will be sorely missed by myself, Andrea, Blue and Athena.
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