Bear
Our dog died today. We'd had her for a long time and we knew she was on her way out, but it still hurts. We've had Bear since she was a puppy. We picked her out from among her litter mates and called her Bear because she looked like a bear cub to us. We were at my aunt's place and her friend's dog had recently had puppies. They were quarter chow, quarter black lab, and half 'that darned golden retriever that jumped the fence.' We didn't care about her lineage except to laugh. I was the one to carry our new puppy back to my aunt's house, where we were staying. She was heavy, but I didn't mind.
We had another dog at the time, though he's long gone. Dexter was an extremely hard-headed king dalmatian, which basically meant that he was much bigger than regular dalmatians. He loved playing with Bear when she was a puppy. I still remember the time when Bear and Dexter were facing each other, nose to nose, crouched down with their butts in the air in matching poses. Other times, Dexter would play with her and pretend to go down, flat on his back with his paws in the air. She'd climb up onto his chest, teeth sunk into the trailing part of his collar and yank on it, with puppy growls in her throat the entire time. We'd love to watch them go at it this way, and several times mom was almost late for work because she also stopped to watch.It was a good time.
Bear died this morning.We knew it was coming. She's been slowing down quite a bit these last couple of weeks. But that doesn't matter. I didn't want to admit it at the time, but yesterday, I knew. It was her last day with us. But it still hurt to hear, and I know it hurt dad to have to say the words. She was his dog, though we all loved her. The only consolation now is that she's not hurting anymore. She's in heaven, probably already playing puppy games with Dexter.
We had another dog at the time, though he's long gone. Dexter was an extremely hard-headed king dalmatian, which basically meant that he was much bigger than regular dalmatians. He loved playing with Bear when she was a puppy. I still remember the time when Bear and Dexter were facing each other, nose to nose, crouched down with their butts in the air in matching poses. Other times, Dexter would play with her and pretend to go down, flat on his back with his paws in the air. She'd climb up onto his chest, teeth sunk into the trailing part of his collar and yank on it, with puppy growls in her throat the entire time. We'd love to watch them go at it this way, and several times mom was almost late for work because she also stopped to watch.It was a good time.
Bear died this morning.We knew it was coming. She's been slowing down quite a bit these last couple of weeks. But that doesn't matter. I didn't want to admit it at the time, but yesterday, I knew. It was her last day with us. But it still hurt to hear, and I know it hurt dad to have to say the words. She was his dog, though we all loved her. The only consolation now is that she's not hurting anymore. She's in heaven, probably already playing puppy games with Dexter.