It was 1987, we were living on Okinawa. We had a pup named Sasha, who just loved to run away.  And she came home pregnant twice.  We managed to 'get rid' of all of the first litter, but the second litter  (born on October 31st) was a bit tougher.  There were 4 boys, and one little girl. The four boys went quick enough, but no one seemed to want the little girl.  So we ended up keeping her, much to my parents dismay (and to my overwhelming Joy). Since she was so small,  and the only girl in the litter, I named her Sally.... after Charlie Brown's little sister.  Her tail was curly, and she had a dark brindle color over most of her body, but her legs and belly were a silvery white. We got along rather well in the beginning, I was only 9 (or 10?) and was overjoyed at having a puppy of my own.  And Sally was a puppy and seemed to be thrilled at having any kind of play mate.  I'd share my M&M's with her, and she'd sleep on my bed, and we'd wrestle and just generally horse around.  When she got excited or when I came home after school, she'd meet me at the door and whistle.... and since her tail was curly we dubbed her 'Whistle Pig". But once Sally hit 2 she became my Father's dog, furry heart and fuzzy soul. She'd follow him around,  sleep on his lap (she was around 60 pounds) and she'd never stray too far from him on their walks.... usually less than 15 feet from him.  And if I played too rough with her, she'd go running to dad and tattle on me. And thusly she became the little sister I never had (or wanted for that matter) In the Summer of 89, she brought home Rusty.  She came back to the states with us in the fall of 91. 

   As she grew older, she became even more attached to my dad.  And you could tell the attachment was mutual.  But finally, in the winter of 1999, her body started to quit, she started loosing weight, and started to get very tired looking, though she'd still play and romp a little, it started to look a little more forced.  On November 27th we took her to the vet to get her checked out, and they did some tests on her, and it turned out her liver was failing and since she was old (12) there was really nothing they could do.  And so, at the end of November, another of my childhood companions was put to sleep. It hit my dad very hard, and I can tell it still affects him.

Some pictures of Sally.....