Then There Was One…

We lost Chase Friday. He was ten…almost to the day. Like many dogs, Chase had begun to slow down but mid-week he took a serious downturn. Still, when Sue took him to the vet on Friday we only halfway thought he was truly near the end. But, unfortunately, the vet said he was in a lot of pain and suddenly our time with Chase…was over. As you know I am not a “Pet Fanatic” but Chase was truly one of a kind…

In the spirit of this blog and in an attempt to both honor him and be honest about him here are some random thoughts and memories of Chase, the giant headed, not the smartest, most loving dog I've   ever encountered.

We got Chase as a puppy and he lived with us for one night in Connecticut, three years in Michigan and nearly seven in Pennsylvania.

Despite his massive size he was a gentle giant and was so not an Alpha dog.

He had a massive head…beautiful too. Suitable for wall mounting. It was really that good. And no we didn't….

He loved grabbing shoes and walking around with them…never ruining them just losing them.

Unlike labs, food was secondary to people for him.

He lacked some gene in his brain that supposedly every dog and human has which causes dreams to be non-events by semi paralyzing the body during sleep. Because of this we had to move any “underweight” objects away from him at night otherwise they could be damaged as he sent them flying across the room. He awoke me on more than his fair share of nights kicking the laundry machine. A running dream for sure.

His “Native American” name was “Walking while poops” because he never stayed in one location while conducting his “business meetings”. Many a shoe suffered damage because of this issue. Despite our best efforts, the yard was a dangerous place to play.

He always thought he was the same size as when he was born and to the end he always tried to lie underneath your seat even if that meant you had to move.

He seemed to sympathize with me for having no hair and tried to lose most of his every day. It just kept growing back.

He never wanted to be left out of a car trip…even though he got carsick.

He actually hugged. If you got down to his level when he was sitting he would put his head on your shoulder….and leave it there for as long as you stayed.

He panted no matter the temperature whenever he got close to you…he was just that way.

He battled a severe drinking problem his entire life…never not spilling water everywhere.

Speaking of water…he was happiest in it.

If he could have spoken he would have told you I changed the rules on him many times. That was because he found new rules to break.

He was ours and we were his….we loved him but he made us do that. He gave us no choice.

Murphy has some big shoes to lose…..