...the
Lord God made them all. And when He made our little dog, Linus, He did very
well. You can see by this first picture how Linus got his name.
He didn’t
exactly drag a blanket around but he did love to drag around the towel I
brought him home in. So thanks to the Charley Brown comic strip we found the
perfect name for our newest family member.
Once
Linus learned how to traverse the steps at our house, he was able to use the
doggie door in the basement. His legs were so short Dean had to build a step up
and a ramp down but he soon became a pro at exiting into the back yard. In
fact, I think he probably visualized it as part of the house, but definitely
part of his personal space. Once the dog door was in use, we began missing
items around the house ranging from a house slipper and gloves to my reading glasses. He
had a favorite area just off the back pouch where he liked to park his
“treasures.”
Linus was not averse to running away in order to check out the neighborhood. One day
this penchant backfired because he “lost” his neighborhood! After 2-3 hours of
searching, a friendly UPS truck driver we had alerted earlier, stopped by and
said he had seen a little white dog around the Monte Carlo Apartments (five
blocks away and another totally separate
neighborhood). The lost was found—not sure who was more relieved--Linus or Dean
and me.
As
he got older, the adventuring decreased and Linus was more willing to stay
close by “his people” although he loved to “go.” As soon as his crate came out in preparation for a trip,
he was in it like a flash—he wasn’t going to be left behind!
The high point of any day would be
for him to go with Dean to any place having a drive-up window so he could sit
up and beg for a treat—many thanks, especially to the folks at Sierra JavaJ We never did time him but Linus
had incredible balance on his hind legs. Maybe his tail helped 
Spreaking
of his tail—it was a definite barometer to the way he was feeling at any
particular moment. Up and wagging meant “I’m happy” or “Come get my squeaker.”
Tail dragging the ground meant "I’m tired or sick or scared" (he hated thunder and fire crackers).
A
week ago our sweet Linus breathed his last—just laid down on the rug after
Brian brought him in from his morning potty time. Despite a visit to the vet the week before, he slowly stopped eating and Friday morning his brave little heart just stopped beating.
We
were blessed for almost 13 years with a sweet little dog who loved us unconditionally.
Most likely there will always be a Linus-sized hole in our hearts but the memories of having played and snuggled with him during those year are worth the pain of his absence.
More favorite pictures of "Mister Boy":
No comments:
Post a Comment