My Best Friend...

by Rebecca Crutchfield
(Virginia)

For my thirteenth birthday I wanted a dog and we had moved again and were allowed to have pets. I had always wanted one that was my own and not my family's. So my mom took me to the pound to look around.

I went into the puppy room and had my back turned to him. I was looking around and he barked just once to get my attention. When I saw him I knew he was the one.

He was a German Shepherd/Greyhound mix(I think). The day was May 17, 2005. His name was Tyson but I changed it to Phantom. I kept Tyson as one of his middle names though. (I promised him that every dog I owned would have the middle name Tyson).

He was my best friend. He helped me with a lot of my problems and was very, very smart. He knew the door handle opened the door and would try to bite it and open it. He would always look me in the eye when I was talking to him. He would hug me when I was sad.

I remember one time I took him to a dog training class and somehow he manged to get the treat pouch out of my pocket, open it, and eat all the treats without me noticing. He was that smart!

Another time I had gotten some candy and hidden it from my siblings. I went in my room and found the candy wrappers all over the floor. Naturally I went and yelled at my brothers and sisters who swore up and down they hadn't eaten it.

So I go into my room and I'm lying down and Phantom jumps up on the couch and starts digging in it. Then he jumped down and I saw that he had something orange in his mouth. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw him drop it on the floor.
I looked at him and he covered it up with his paws, laid his head on top of it and pretended to be asleep!

So I kept reading but out of the corner of my eye I began to watch him unwrap the candy. He used his dew-claws to hold the candy in place and with his teeth opened it, pulled off the covering and when he was about to eat it I yelled at him. "You did it! Where's the rest of it?!"

Well to my surprise he proceeded to go around the room and dig out from various hiding places the rest of the candy! Then he lined it up in front of me, hung his head in shame and then high tailed it out of the room! I was so shocked I didn't even yell at him again.

Well, we moved and he loved the country. He met a dog in our neighborhood named Princess. She lived on the other side of our fence and every morning he would run up and down our fence line with her.

One day Princess wasn't at the fence and he got out while I was at school. My mom called for him but he didn't come. So she went in the house and that's when she heard him yelp. The driver of the truck was going a lot faster than he should have and didn't even slow down. That was September 25th, 2007. To me that's Phantom's Day and I go and visit his grave and give him flowers.

I haven't been the same since. My mom said that's why I have so many dogs. (I have four of them now.) Because I'm trying to fill up that empty space he left. I think that's true. It will never be filled. I've written two songs about him and I'm planning on writing a memoir about him next.

I know in all my life that there will never be another dog like him and even though I love my other dogs very much, he will always have a big place in my heart. I love you buddy. I'll see you in Rainbow Bridge.

Phantom Tyson Shadow was three years old when he was killed.