RIP Molly :(

RIP Molly, 3/10/2013.  Lots of memories over the last 13 years. My daughter asked how we would remember everything about Molly, so this is for my kids:

1. Puppy toilet-training. Old wooden floorboards, with gaps. OMG. :(
2. Eating. Every. Single. Thing. Especially timber (ie. house). And chicken-wire. That house will never be the same.
3. The first 8 attempts to take her for a walk, and her refusing to leave the property. (Problem finally solved one day by the boys a few doors down, who hauled her out. Thus beginning a lifetime of escapes. Ahh, the irony.. ).
   
4. Retrieving her from the neighbours a few doors down, repeatedly, whenever she escaped while I was at work and they kindly kept her until I got home. (I secretly think she liked their backyard better than mine).
5. Retrieving her from the dog pound, when they weren't home either. :/
6. "Who Let the Dogs Out?" by Baha Men. Blasted loudly through my office upon my late entrance one morning, after an early-morning visit to the pound. Thanks to Paul and co at Vodafone, for THAT memory. :)
7. Digging. Every. Single. Thing.
8. Taking her in the car to my not-yet-husband's house because my house didn't have a bath. Black dog hair EVERYWHERE. (And he still married me).
9. Seeing my not-yet-husband's look of disbelief when I told him Molly did not like cars and would under no circumstances put her head out the window, no matter how much he wanted her to. And his frustration after several unsuccesful attempts. ("But dogs are meant to do this! It's just embarrassing!!).
10. Completely ignoring, and even turning her back on my daughter for the first 6 months of her life, because she was so offended by her very presence (hilarious).
11. The day my daughter started to crawl, and immediately set her sights on Molly, much to her horror (even more hilarious). But from that moment on, they were best of friends. :)
12. The day I looked outside and saw my daughter asleep, on Molly.
    
13. Her eternal patience with all kids, no matter what they did to her.
    
14. Her sheer excitement at the word "walk". Even if you whispered it LOL.
15. The day we drove with my mother-in-law, daughter and Molly in the backseat, and my mother-in-law insisted on sitting on "Molly's side" of the car - and had to endure a very pissed-off black labrador attempting to sit on her the entire way (hilarious for us, not so much for my mother-in-law).
16. All the phone calls I got over the years that went like this:
    "This might seem like a strange phone call, but I've got this black labrador that came into my yard/driveway/garage/..."
    "Yes, thank you so much for calling, I'm really sorry, what's your address and I'll come and get her? No, she's not a puppy any more, she's actually 10 (6/8/12/13), you'd think she'd know better. No, not the first time, not by a long shot..."
    (Thanks to Molly I met many, many neighbours, the local bank manager and several local retirement village residents, where I found her happily sitting one evening while the residents sat chatting with their cups of tea).
17. Trying to make her do something she didn't want to. Like the collar, after her operation, OMG. You could always tell when Molly was pissed off because she'd refuse to look at you LOL :)
    
18. Hearing her claws tap-tapping across the back porch, as she searched for something to chew/dig/destroy.
19. Watching my kids grow up with her.

I remember someone telling me in the early days "just wait till you have kids, if you think the dog is bad!". In all honesty - the dog was worse :) But I miss her. Thanks for the memories, "Molly-Dog" :)