7 years, 4 months ago by Jim Dewey
I was at a loss this morning. For over a decade my morning routine has included getting Linus, our dog, out of bed and taking him outside to take care of his morning routine. Over the last few years as he has gotten older, that routine has included giving him his arthritis medication and even more recently - Lasix to help him breathe and relax.
Over the weekend the Lasix stopped working and today, he is gone. That part of my routine is broken and I was somewhat at a loss. Another part of the morning routine was giving treats to the cats who knew that their goodies were in the same basket as Linus’ pills. They didn’t get their treats this morning. We’ll have to start a new routine.
A lot of routines will change. We will no longer have to worry whether something we throw away will remain in the waste basket. From now on, our shoes will stay where we left them. We will no longer have to put the butter on a high shelf. Cookies, cakes, candy, cough drops, cat food, band aids (yes, he ate entire boxes of band aids), facial tissues, paper towels, cheese, chips, popcorn, frankly any food items, are now safe. Well, mostly safe, we still have cats, but I doubt any of them will eat an entire chocolate birthday cake, or a full bag of chocolate chips.
What’s that? Chocolate is bad for dogs? Someone forgot to tell Linus, although the chocolate chips did get his heart racing for a bit. He was banned from Grandpa’s house after eating an entire box of chocolate Christmas treats.
Linus was 14 years old and although the arthritis slowed him some, he continued to be a puppy right up to the end. Those magic words “Mom’s home!” and “Get your shoes on!” meant excited tail wagging and joyous dancing. His eyesight was failing thanks to cataracts and we had to make sure the light at the bottom of the stairs was off before he tried to walk down them after dark. He had lost most of his hearing so people actually had to knock so we’d know someone was at the door. His sense of smell, never failed him.
Maybe we’ll get a doorbell.
He was a lab mix. We think the other half was whippet so we called him a whiprador. He came to us from the Quincy Humane Society when he was about 2 and instantly bonded with our daughter, Meagan but he stayed with us when she left home. His full name was Linus Wolfgang Hildahl Dewey. He chose the middle name, sort of, and he knew he was in trouble whenever it came out. At one time he had a time-out chair and he would go to it when he was told. He even put himself in time out once when we had ignored his pleas to go outside and he had peed on the floor.
He had an expressive face and what could even be called a smile. And he was full of love, mischief, and all the things dogs are loved for. Some of the cats tolerated him. Yeti, our youngest, adored him. He liked to snuggle and kiss and do tricks. And we will miss him. A lot.
Good night, sweet Linus. Good night.
