Mona, a black Cocker Spaniel, was with us 16 years. Our family really can't think of a time that she didn't feel part of us, even the many years as a family we had before her blessed arrival.
We took her everywhere with us. To work. To school. On travel. She was outstanding in every way. Our love for her has not diminished even though she has transitioned.
There are many fun stories to share about Mona, but perhaps one of the cutest is when she was still a puppy in training and did not like it when we left her home, even if with someone else in the family. For instance, we planned to leave for a trip after work, and left one suitcase on the bed. It had a zipper around the circumference, semi hard sided. While we were at work, Mona jumped on the bed, unzipped the suitcase, opened it up fully, took out the toiletry bag, unzipped that, took out the toothpaste, and carted the tube away to a spot on the floor where she often laid down, and then she took off the cap on the tube and that was it. Taking the cap off the toothpaste tube and taking caps off water bottles was always one of her most favorite things to do. How she managed to unzip the suitcase and lift it fully wide open is still a mystery to us. She was home alone the whole day. Amazing.