[EchoGSD]

I've had a few mixed breeds that still own chunks of my heart. One was Jamie, a great dane lab mix...we had her from 5 weeks (dumped at a shelter!) until nearly 13yrs..an awesome age for a dane mix. Beautiful black with white markings, Jamie was chief babysitter to my 3 kids, sometimes doubled as a saddle horse for the younger ones, puller of the sled through deep snow with kids screaming in delight behind her, and the most tenacious food-hound/garbage eater I have ever owned. We lost her to cancer and miss her every day.
Currently we have Tori, a rottie/lab mix who I truly believe is Jamie reincarnated. Not too long after we lost Jamie, my kids started asking about a new dog. I told them "God will send us a dog who needs us". 9 weeks to the day after Jamie died, Tori was born. Tori's litter was given up at the animal hospital where I work (bitch had died, owner couldn't bottle feed the litter of 5). Here was the dog God sent to us: Tori was the runt of the litter and I took her home at not quite 24 hours of age. The kids & I bottle raised her from that day on...she fit into our home like she had always been there. She's now 6 years old, 80 pounds of black & tan beauty, just recently registered with the AKC, and will be in the AKC Obedience ring in April. She exhibits hundreds of mannerisms that are so like my Jamie it makes me catch my breath, including an almost insane love of any "baby" we bring home to foster: kitten, puppy, squirrel, bird, rabbit, etc. She is CGC and therapy dog certified and has an instinctive ability to "size up" folks in hospitals and nursing homes to provide just the right amount of love & attention without frightening or jostling the folks. I can't wait to see what the next several years bring with her!