It has been exactly a year since we lost our beloved dog. She had been with our family for sixteen years, and this past year has been particularly sad for all of us. Well, not exactly the entire year (obviously!) but there are certainly times when we can’t help but remember her.

I have always been a dog lover, but my husband was raised without a pet in his family. I think that makes all of the difference. My family, on the other hand, always had a dog. So, it was only natural that my husband and I get a dog for both of our children.

The sixteen years went by so fast! We all grew to love our dog, all of us getting different things out of the situation. Although the children started out being the primary care-givers to our dog (as far as her meals) it soon became apparent that I would take over those duties.

Since we had so many wonderful times with our dog, we soon began collecting little knick knacks of dogs. My daughter’s collection has become the best dog collection. My son did’t collect too many pieces, he was more interested in all things Nintendo. But, my daughter has accrued a nice little porcelain dog figurine collection.

Whenever I find myself in her room dusting, I, of course, have to pick up her dog collection. Since I was with her every time she added a new dog collectible to her collection, I have memories of what was going on in our lives at the time.

Many of my daughter’s collection are dogs made by Lefton, although she has a few Jim Shore pieces, as well as some other manufacturers mixed into the group. I am particularly drawn to the Lefton dogs because they remind me of the types of things my grandmother had all around her house. Since most of my love for decorative collectibles came from my early memories of my grandmother’s home, I guess I sort of steered my daughter that way.