Goodbye dear friend...

I write this morning not to tell you about upcoming weather but to say goodbye to my friend Spencer. Last evening a terrible turn of unfortunate events cause him to be attacked and injured in his own back yard. While we hope it wounds were superficial, they turned out to be more than the little guy would be able to handle.

Spencer was my first dog and it took 45 years for him to come into my life. I was never keen on dogs having been bitten when I was a small child. When my wife started suggesting we get a dog, I tried to convince her otherwise. However I lost that battle and Spencer was brought to us in April of 2007. He was a rescue which had been abused in his life as a puppy. When we got him he still showed signs of frostbite and was very thin. Spencer was thought to be an older dog since he was frail.

He was still pretty skittish his first few days around here. His abuser was a man so he was particularly afraid of me at first. Over time we became friends. He loved his toys and I would steal them and he would steal them back. I was never allowed to squeak any toy.
One of the reasons I didn’t want a dog was the early, too early morning times they needed to go outside. I like sleeping in and am not a morning person. Spencer was the same. He wouldn’t wake you and would sleep as late as you wanted. When we took him out before work, he would come back in and fall back to sleep. I was told he needed 15 hours of sleep per day and he did get every minute of it.

That isn’t to say he slept his life away. He loved the outdoors. Walking and exploring. Even the seemingly endless mundane walks through the neighborhood were always new to him. Frogs and grasshoppers to other canine friends he wanted to check out them all. He sniffed out the tiniest things and I doubt there was a mailbox post he didn’t mark several dozen times. He even found a couple of moles and dug them up ridding the world of those worthless creatures.

His exploring took on all new meanings when we went to new places. Besides local favorites like the dog park or pet store, he love to ride in a car anywhere. His made travels too many states including a trip last fall to Arkansas. He was on a canoe and discovered minnows and chased them up and down the shoreline. He never once batted an eye about being in the camper around the animals. His energy and enthusiasm never ended on that trip until we made the long drive home. He found a comfortable spot among the camping gear in the truck and slept the entire 14 hour drive home only hopping out for potty breaks.

He recently attended dog camp with Jeri, my wife, in Wisconsin for four days. She has a wonderful memory of the two of them together and I am ever so grateful she had a pet photo professionally taken while there.

Last evening started out like so many in our house. I came home Spencer greeted me wanting to hit the outside. We went out and walked down a few houses before he decided needed to go back to sit in his spot in our, no his back yard and watch over it.

The neighbor has two dogs including a large back lab which would stroll through our yard. Spencer didn’t like that at all. The lab knew Spencer put on a fierce show and would always walk a wide berth around his area. However Spencer thought the yard next door was his too. He would watch over it until the two dogs were back inside.

He was out keeping watch when a dog a on the street behind us broke though the door and took off. The owner gave a good chase but he zipped with into Spencer territory. Without hesitation, Spencer defended what was his and the large dog attacked right back. It was just a few seconds before the other dogs owner was there trying to hold back her dog. A few seconds after that Jeri and I were outside helping Spencer inside that even with his injuries wanted to stay out and defend both his space, us, and the other dogs owner.

We knew he was bleeding badly when we got him inside and he wanted to hide and be left alone. Jeri coaxed him out as I found an emergency animal hospital open late in Carmel. I drove as fast as possible. We could see he was in pain.

While there, he was a trouper. He stood up so people could see his wounds and when he was put into his cage and before he received any pain medication, he came to me and wagged his tail trying to say he was going to be ok. He had much more than superficial wounds. His recovery if he made it through surgery to repair damaged internal organs would be slow and painful and he likely would not ever be the same. When we came back to see him several hours later, he was in severe pain even with his morphine drip and antibiotics. He knew we were there and allowed up to say a tearful goodbye never once being angry with us or snapping.

Today he is sleeping in before starting his first day with the big dogs in the sky. I hope the place is filled with squirrels and rabbits he can catch and maybe some flowing creeks with minnows jump after. He will always be missed with his comfort and companionship. Spencer, I love you.