Candie was without any doubt the sweetest dog we have ever had the pleasure of hangin' out with. We were in Tuscaloosa and I was working 12 hours a day and going to college. Janelle was lonely. I talked her into answering an ad in the paper to buy a dalmation puppy. We went out in the country north of Tuscaloosa to a farm where this really nice lady had a litter of 8 pups. Candie and Janelle stuck to each other right away. We spent about an hour there and Candie followed her around the entire time. These puppies were running loose on the property and were absolutely outgoing and friendly. Janelle chose Candie, we paid the lady and took the puppy home.
We lived in an apartment off campus and Candie never used a leash. She went everywhere with Janelle. When Janelle went to do the laundry, Candie followed. When Janelle went to the store down the street, Candie followed. When we took Candie to the campus square, she ran back and forth between Janelle and I. Even when there were other dogs and other people, Candie stuck close. When I came home, I really needed to sleep and Candie always wanted to play. I'd just pull the covers over my head and Candie wuold run back and forth on the bed, she was the only dog Janelle ever allowed to sleep on the furniture. When I would wake up, Candie would be asleep, under the covers, head on the pillow. I have always wondered how she was able to do that while I was asleep.
Every story has an ending and this one is not as happy as some others. I lost my job in Tuscaloosa. We made a very quick decision to move to Dallas for many reasons. We loaded up a truck and discussed Candie in detail. We knew that we would have to move into an apartment and money was very, very tight with the move and all. We did decide that we couldn't part with Candie, so we all loaded up and headed to Dallas. We had one of those big U-Hauls and a trailer attached to it with our Camaro on the trailer filled with more stuff. Somewhere in Louisiana the trailer caught on fire at 1AM, the electric brakes must have failed and got too hot. I threw the stuff out of the camaro and drove it to the next exit to call the fire department. The volunteer fire department showed up in about 15 minutes and put out the fire.
After the fire was put out Janelle and I looked at each other and we made the decision to ask if one of the firefighters wanted Candie. We explained our situation and one of them stepped up. He told us that he lived on a farm and had two other dalmations and we really felt good about giving Candie to him. The U-haul repair guys showed up about 10 minutes later and we watched the puppy we both loved drive away in the front seat of the truck. Janelle was absolutely heartbroken. That is one of my bigger regrets, however, I do believe that Candie had a good life in an enjoyable situation. She would have passed away sometime in 2004 or 2005 if she lived a full life.
