Paisley May 1999-July 14, 2012

Paisley was a brindle Boxer with a kind, gentle spirit who rarely barked, loved to lay in the sun, and earned the name Tigger for her vertical bouncing as she greeted you back home.  She had a stump of a tail that wasn’t big enough to express her happiness so she resorted to wagging her whole rear-end.  She loved running at the dog park and had kisses for everyone she met.  So powerful were her kisses, that you could hear her tongue as it thwacked her nose. 

She came to live with Dave and Shannon at the age of eight weeks-old for their first wedding anniversary on July 18, 1999.  It was Shannon’s gift to Dave.  Paisley spent the better part of her puppy obedience classes walking around the ring backwards trying desperately to greet whoever  was behind her. 

Paisley spent her last few years living with Shannon’s parents.  Shannon’s parents were able to give Paisley the walks and attention she deserved.  When Paisley still had energy and good mobility, she loved to watch Judy (Shannon’s mom) swim laps in the backyard pool.  Paisley would race from end to end, licking Judy’s hands as she touched the wall to turn for her next lap.  When Paisley got too hot, she would sit on the steps of the pool in the shallow end to cool down. 

Paisley would take nightly walks with Art, Shannon’s dad.   “She’s kind of a chicken,”  Art had said about his walks with Paisley.   Paisley had been known to be spooked by her own shadow and in her scramble to get behind whoever was walking her she’d nearly trip whoever was on the walk with her. 

Paisley was a sensitive soul.  If someone got mad at her she’d slink away and pout for extended periods of time.  She was a sneaky girl when it came to the comforts of furniture and loved to spend her time sitting on the furniture she wasn’t supposed to sit on.  If caught, she would move in slow-motion off the couch or chair which broke the tension and evoked laughter.  It is hard to stay mad at someone with brown puddles for eyes.  

Shannon recalls the time 65-pound Paisley and three-pound Alli the Pomeranian joined forces.  Alli showed Paisley where the treats and food were kept at Art and Judy’s home.  Paisley then clawed the closet door open.  Both of them enjoyed their team effort thoroughly and were found with their heads in a bag of dog food stuffing themselves silly.  The family often joked that those two dogs, big in heart and little in brain, shared a bond and a brain and together made a good pair. 

Paisley joins Mocha, Alli, JoJo, Rusty, and Mindy at the other end of the proverbial Rainbow Bridge.  She and her gentle spirit have left a hole in everyone’s hearts and a trail of tears glistening on sun-kissed cheeks.

"(S)He took my heart and ran with it, and I hope (s)he's running still, fast and strong, a piece of my heart bound up with (hers)his forever"
 Patricia McConnell