"It was about 10:30 in the morning, and the Texas heat had not yet become unbearable, so I asked Codi if he would like to go for a walk. Codi, my 11-year old Shetland Sheepdog had not been well these last few days. I thought he might enjoy being out front. The lawn was shady, so, instead of walking, Codi lay on the grass with his front paws just touching the crub.

Sitting beside Codi, I looked to see what he was seeing. His head went this way, then that. He noticed the cars on the cross street; the boy on his bike; a neighbor walking his black Labrador Retriever; and even showed interest in Clementine, the cat next door.

Codi was going to be just fine, I thought, even though the sonogram done the previous day had found cancer of the liver. His vet had suggested that Codi would be better off at home with his Mommy - me. My darling doggie was alert, knew my words, but then wasn't he the smartest, most agreeable Sheltie I had ever had?

To get him to come to me, all I had to do was to curl my fingers as a child does. Codi might put his ears back a little since he suspected that he was going to have his nails clipped. I could roll him over and lift a paw -- snip, snip, snip. As I did the things most dogs do not enjoy, Codi would lick my hand. He trusted me. While in the hospital for intravenous feeding, his vet told me that Codi never objected to anything they did to him. Agreeable. That is the word that best describes my Codi.

But let me not forget smart, bright, playful, lover of people. Didn't he jump up on the sofa to get closer to a visitor? Before arthritis troubled him, Codi wold be on the back of the sofa, wrapped around my neck, as I drank a cup of tea in the morning. He knew I would have a piece of bread for him - his favorite treat.

Bread! To get him outside, I would give the order, but my Codi guided me into the kitchen where I kept bread getting crisp for him, his brother Teddi from the same breeder,and his rescue sister, Molly. Then Codi would move toward the patio door, but several times turn to face me as I tossed a bit of bread for him to catch. That is how I got him outside. Or should I say how he got me outside?

Codi was so alert that Thursday, I was sure he was going to be just fine. I was resting in the afternoon when Codi came into the bedroom. I asked him if he wanted to come up. Since he stood still and did not want me to follow him somewhere, I put him on the bed where he lay for about 15 minutes. To my surprise, he jumped off by himself - this sick little fellow. I dozed off.

At about 5 o'clock, I woke up and went into the living room to check on things. My Codi was lying in front of his fan (he could never tolerate heat). As I got closer to him, I noticed with horror that the one eye I could see was open but sightless. I passed my finger over his eye - nothing. I lifted a paw, and it fell limply to the carpet. My Codi had left me. But hadn't he come to the bedroom to say goodbye? I am sure that he did. Then there were those forty-five mintues on the front lawn where he took in everything? I believe that he was making memories! He must have known it would be his last time on the lawn or the court, and he wanted to see everything one last time and so to remember it for wherever he was going.

There was a song years back whose words said that if dogs have a heaven, there is one thing I know, old Shep has a wonderful home. I have to believe that my dear Codi is in the doggie heaven with his predecessors: Ginger, Corin, and Phebe. Perhaps they are all romping in the heavenly gardens waiting for Teddi, Molly, and me to join them.

Goodbye my Codi boy. We exchanged a good measure of love, didn't we.