To all the dogs I've loved before

It's a very sad day at the Sherman-Lloyd Home. Our Petey passed away during the night.

He hadn't been his usual hyper self for the last 3 months, especially since Doodle, my sister-in-law's dog, died back in November. He would come into the house every day looking for her and crying when he couldn't find her. 

Petey came to us in the summer of 2001, about 2 months after my mother passed away. It just now hit me; we adopted Buck in 1998 right after Mom moved out of our home, and adopted Petey right after she passed away. Coincidence?

Half Sharpei and half Treeing Walker Coonhound, he was so ugly he was cute. Tall and skinny, when he was a puppy you could see the Sharpei in his head, but he quickly grew out of that look. 

I say this with all the love in my heart--Petey was the dumbest dog I have ever known. Bless his heart--about the only thing we could teach him was to sit. When we picked him up from the vet after he was neutered, I remember the vet saying something about being kind to him because he may not be the sharpest tack in the drawer, and I remember thinking, how would he know? He must have known something...

He was goofy and loved to slobber all over you and lick you to death. He loved it when you petted him (what dog doesn't?) but he would always take his paw and pull your arm and hand down to his chest--where he really wanted to be rubbed. It would turn into a game--I'd start scratching his head, then he would slowly raise his paw and head for my arm, and I would say, "Nooooooooo...." He'd put the paw down and a few seconds later, up it would come...

We used to have a pet door going from our kitchen to our porch outside. He would bring in all sorts of creatures, dead or alive, and drop them at our feet or place them on the stairway so we'd see them when we'd get up in the morning. Moles and possum were his specialties. The pet door was removed.

He was not a traveler--we couldn't get down the street without him throwing up in the car. When we'd have to go to my sister's for an extended holiday, we always managed to get the kids to bring him up in another vehicle while we'd take Buck with us (I know--awful parents, aren't we?).

In between Buck's and Petey's passings, JJ and Doodle passed away. JJ and Doodle were my sister-in-law's dogs. They moved in with us 4 years ago while Robin was selling her house. After she moved in with us they were so happy to have her back. She moved back to Texas in April of last year and had planned to come back eventually to get the dogs.

Doodle and Buck curled up together

Fifteen months ago we had 4 dogs; now we have none. It's the first time in 17 years we haven't had a dog in our home. We still have 4 cats residing/visiting with us, but it's not the same. 

Clockwise from the upper left: Buck, Petey, JJ and Doodle

These are the dogs the Hubster and I have had since we remarried. I can see a quilt of these photos, but it will be awhile before I'm able to do it.

There's a party going on at the Rainbow Bridge tonight. The four of them are running with Buck in the lead, Petey right behind him, while Doodle and JJ are distracted by a squirrel running up a tree. Have fun, you wonderful boys and girl.

Go quilt!