Sasha is our German Shepherd. She is my shadow. She follows me wherever I go. If I'm in the bedroom, she's there. If I'm in the kitchen, she's there. She may be sleeping contentedly or snoring under the dining table, but when I go to another room, she wakes up instantly and follows me to the room. It seems we're always colliding and getting in each other's way. My son says to change her name to Ruth after the Moabitish woman who told Naomi, her mother-in-law, "Whither thou goest, I will go..."

People say that Sasha is a one-person dog. She tolerates my husband and son. Only I could take her for a walk. In the mornings, if ask my husband or son to take her outside to use the bathroom, she would follow them only to the bedroom door and turn right back to be by me. In other words, only I could take her out to potty.

My husband says that the dog is down in the dumps when I'm not there. She would not eat unless I'm home from work. Talk about separation anxiety. My son thinks Sasha has emotional problems and needs to see a vet psychiatrist (do they have such a thing?) My husband said to me the other day: "I think the dog thinks I run you off and is mad at me all day."

Sometimes she goes under the shed, lethargic-like, and stays there all day waiting for me. She would not come out to eat if coaxed by my husband. It seems that she knows exactly what time I'd be home, and she would come bounding up to the house like a time bomb waiting to explode with joy and happiness at my presence. And you'd better get out of the way. When she wags her tail, her whole body sways, and her tail could whip you real hard.

The dog is very protective of me. One day my son wanted to find out how Sasha would react if someone tries to hurt me. He put his arms around my neck and yelled "Give me your money or else". To our surprise, the dog let out a loud pitiful wail and jumped up and got between me and Michael, using her body to shield me from him. Mike got a kick out of this so every now and then, he would grab me just to hear Sasha wail.

When we go walking, Sasha likes to grab at things on the road and carries them in her mouth sometimes for the duration of the one-mile walk. Sometimes she has a large pine cone, a can of soda, a long stick or branch of some plant or just clumps of pine needles. She looks ridiculous walking with these "toys" in her mouth, but she seems to enjoy doing it, so I leave her alone.

I love my dog. She has beautiful brown eyes and she looks at me so lovingly. She trusts me completely. She loves me unconditionally. She obeys me and is contented and happy in my presence. Hey, what more can I ask?