My whole life I’ve had pure bred dogs. My first job when I could drive was to take my stepdad’s pure bred miniature Schnauzer house to house, for $100 a pop, to stud and make new pure-bred Schnauzers.
When I was old enough to get my own dog my wife and I found a breeder in Blain Washington near the Canadian border and got a pure-bred yellow Labrador. He was the grandchild of a Champion, Drayton Harbor. We named him Ty, but his American Kennel Club name was Ebb Tide Drayton Harbor. He got into the neighbor’s garage and ate rat poison which we discovered too late to save him. He died on the emergency room table before my eyes. I learned that day if given the option don’t resuscitate. Watching him deceased on the table while the vet went thru the futile motions of CPR is heartbreaking.
After that emotional experience I didn’t think I’d have another dog, but funny things have a way of happening when you resist the inevitable. 9 months later we found Caroline. She was a rescue from a wonderful agency in Seattle area called PAWS and a mom from our kids school was a pet surgeon there and called us knowing we’d been without Ty awhile so we took her in feeling very altruistic for saving a stray before the anesthesia had even worn off from her neutering on this 6-7 month old black Lab female. I remember thinking, “she’s a lab; how hard can it be to train her?”
Well, very hard. We named her ‘Sweet’ Caroline as a joke because she was anything but sweet. Her first 7 months in the wild must have been hard. She didn’t know any commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘come’ or ‘don’t go potty there!’ Andr she didn’t like people. Many times we had to think about giving her back or finding her a more equipped home because with kids in the house and enjoying the occasional company over for a visit we couldn’t with this wild thing in the house. She was beautiful and everyone wanted to pet her, but she’d quickly tell you that wasn’t ok with her. We called her deceptive when we warned guests beware. “Just ignore her” we’d advise. Nobody ever did. She only let me get that close.
Looking back over the 14 years we had her I can say it was her that trained me much more than I trained her. She never missed a daily walk unless I was out of town. Never missed a meal on her schedule 6am and 5pm and once she got older and the pain medications were prescribed, I never missed a 9am or 9pm except one time when her pain was so bad at night, I was forced to come to terms with how bad she was suffering.
During Covid it was her and I every morning at 6:30am out on the Seattle streets putting what would be 1000 miles under our six feet; sun, rain or snow. We certainly bonded in those hours and she hated every dog we came across. Not until moving to Tennessee did she mellow out and I’m convinced she didn’t like liberal dogs and loved her new neighbors in red state Tennessee…or was just older and finally mellowed. I’ll go with the former.
Long time listeners of my podcast may recall I was on a program called Energized Health in those early days of leaving Marxist insane King County Washington for more tolerant Snohomish County where the media business began. The program called for sixty minutes a day fast walking on the streets which coincided with getting kicked out of my gym for refusing to wear a mask. She was with me every day for those 88 days which is why I can say we did “1000 miles on our six feet” and I lost 70 pounds of fat. Likely what gave her such a long life of 14 years. It was her and I that lived six weeks in an empty house in Mill Creek before driving cross country on our move to Tennessee I call ‘baptism by country’. I’ll never forget our adventure from Spokane, Missoula MT, Deadwood SD and Springfield MO. She was an excellent travel companion and co-pilot. That’s why her urn says “My Best Furry Friend and Co-pilot”.
And it was her that sat at feet as I recorded my shows, was my companion at late nights during middle Tennessee thunderstorms and late-night returns home from concerts and as she aged and wasn’t able to walk anymore I gave up family vacations to take care of her and make sure she was comfortable and getting the only thing she ever wanted: my attention. Our ‘Walk N Talk’ video blogs will be sorely missed and just not the same without her. On her last night I let her spend it outside with the summer sounds and the only time I can remember not giving her a cookie before putting her to bed next to mine.
The next day I had to come to terms with her suffering and be the man she wanted me to be and help her end her suffering. I got her to the clinic, they found the stomach cancer on ultrasound casing the blood in her bowels. They put us in a lovely low lit room and adminstred sleeping serum. I twirred her velvety ear like she loved as she drifted off and laid her head on my foot; her favorite spot. I got to tell her she was off duty and could finally relax and that she’s been a great friend with a beautiful soul…and I love her. I closed her eyes for her and she was gone…peacefully.
The movie says ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’ and I believe that. I look forward to one day crossing the ‘Rainbow Bridge’ and reuniting with my best lifetime friends, Ty and Caroline. They are patiently waiting for me to come home, and I will stay on this path until we meet again. God bless them and all our pets. I’m blessed by every mile we did together…even the last. We don’t deserve them, but what a blessing to have them. Amen.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
