I adopted Jetta from SHLR in September 2003 after losing my previous 12-year-old rescue lab to cancer. Jetta was a handful at first, having come from an abusive owner and spending months in a shelter before she came to SHLR. We discovered through training that she was entirely too smart for our own good, especially if there was food involved. We did eventually work through much of her behavioral issues, and as she aged she settled into herself and my home and became a fantastic companion. She never did learn to share a queen-size bed with her people, but she did love to share her crate with our cat. We spent much of her life out doors hiking, camping, and seeking out every body of water and rabbit in Colorado. She was all lab, all the time.
In 2012 we moved to Casper, Wyoming and joined a family with two boys who loved on her, and my sister added a little girl to the family that Jetta shadowed endlessly. We moved in with my grandfather to take care of him in his final years, which worked well for Jetta because she was spoiled with cookies, ice cream, oatmeal, and anything else my grandfather could sneak her when I wasn’t looking! The move came at a time when arthritis was beginning to set in on Jet, and with less time for our hikes and camp outs the arthritis took hold and slowed her down considerably.
She finally lost the ability to get herself outside and back in again over Christmas 2015, and went over the Rainbow Bridge December 27, 2015. She was a loving and well-loved member of our family, and she is greatly missed, especially when I am walking the trails around our house or hiking the mountain.