My blog is not dead…
January 15, 2008
…but my dog is. This past weekend I lost my closest, most dependable friend from the past nine years of my life, my dog Baby. On Saturday, January 12, 2008, at nine and a half years old, Baby died from what was believed to be kidney disease. She was an amazing dog. Despite being a rotwiler, she was very affectionate and protective of her family. My family would often joke that Baby was a puppy trapped in a big dog’s body. Because she thought she was a lap dog, Baby was well known for her tendency to jump on unknowing visitors’ laps. Baby will not be forgotten. She has left a legacy through both our memories and her children. Believe it or not, Baby mated with our other dog Snoopy, a dachshund, and produced a healthy litter of puppies. They were goofy looking puppies, but puppies nevertheless. She will be remembered for her playful attitude and fun loving personality
Baby was there for me through some of the most difficult times in a boy’s life. I remember the first time I met her. I was eleven years old, visiting my Pawpaw’s house down in New Orleans. She was only a puppy then. She was so playful and cuddly. Little did I know that I would be cuddling up to this dog for the next nine years of my life. Baby accompanied me through middle school, high school, and half of college. She truly was this man’s best friend. She was a big dog by breed but small in comparison to other rotwilers. She was the runt of litter. Nevertheless, she offered lots of heat on cold winter nights and security to a young, scared boy on those windy nights when the house creaked. She had some of the most beautiful, brown eyes I have ever seen. I will hold the memory of Baby close to my heart until I die. I love you Baby.
If any of you have a special memory of Baby that you would like to share, I would love to relive it with you. Please comment and tell.
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To everyone that reads my blog, I am sorry if this post was a little self-indulgent of me. I hope to get back to discussing deeper issues soon. I am back at Otterbein for Winter quarter, but I will still be posting on this blog. I hope to do it weekly at a minimum. I love hearing everyone’s feedback and I love being apart of the discussions a blog like this can generate.
I’m sorry about your dog. She and I didn’t get along very…but I understand you were very close. Would watching All Dogs Go to Heaven be a comfort?
Thanks for your condolences. It was definitely one of those games where in the back of your mind you think, “Yeah, the Colts could lose,” but you know, you just KNOW they’re going to win. And they lost. I wish I liked Eli Manning…but as I don’t, I hope the Packers cream them and then go on to destroy the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Have you seen this? http://youtube.com/watch?v=ikx8C292mEw
Some of the first times I hung out with your family, you guys tried to blame Baby’s farts on your dad. I soon learned to tell the difference. My favorite farts of hers were the squeaky kind…the Silent But Deadly were pretty powerful too.
I liked to press down on her warts. I hoped that they would open the door to Narnia or something.
I remember when your dad recounted how he discovered Snoopy and Baby mating. There was Snoopy, swinging through the air. Baby was a whale of a dog, but Snoopy was man enough for her.
And I also remember how her ears perked up at the sound of you crying in the vet’s room. She may have been tired and sick, but she still responded to your voice. I bet she longed to comfort you. Only this time it was your turn to comfort her.
I remember when I frist saw baby also~ I walked in to pawpaws back house and sat on the floor just watching some tv. Being bored wishing there was something to do! and than came walking in pawpaw with the cutest black dog! And i think i went crazy!! trying to hog her from everyone, cause i didnt want anyone else to hold her! I feel in love with her from the frist site!
I dont think anyone could ever forget what i used to do when we fristed moved up! I used to sleep with baby in the cage! HA HA!! I couldnt help it I just wanted to be with her so bad!!
But how can we ever forget that she would attack anyone that was tryen to hurt me! lol! she would even go after you! Man she was the best dog anyone could have!
Bobby~ I miss her so much!! And i think the last 9 1/2 years with her were the best years ever! I dont think any other dog could replace her ever! But hey you know we have CHICO!! Your fav smallest dog ever!!
Hey he is the same color! ha ha!
I love you bubba!!!
I’m sorry your dog died. I never met her, but she sounds like she was a good dog.
Baby will definitely be missed. She was always gentle with my son, Micah (who is just two years old now), even when he was less than gentle with her (as toddlers can be).
No need to appologize for this particular blog entry. You write about real life issues here and if this doesn’t fit the bill, I don’t know what does. Baby was a member of the family as much as anyone and with no disrespect to Chico, I suspect her shoes will never really be re-filled.
I can definitely say, when we first got Baby, I hated it. (The allergy thing). At least on the surface. Truth is,it seemed then like a dog was more important than I was. (Not thinking through that I was away at college most of the time anyway). But even with all of that, I thought she was cute, and she kind of gets to the soft spot of your heart, given time. She had allergies too, which was particularly enduring from my point of view.
I definitely remember having a hard time getting Bekah out of the cage… if Baby was there, she had to be there too.
Something funny now, but not then, was the terrible time we had keeping her out of trash. Dad had a fit every Sunday after church when trash was all across the living room, hall, etc. He had to practice using the Holy Spirit self-control that he was blessed with.
I said nobody would believe that I cried about her departure, but all I could think about was how gentle she is with children, especially mine, and how rare that is in a dog.
Your Loving Sister
Thank you so much for allowing us to relive Baby’s life and love together. As all of your other blogs, you write about life, things that are important to you, so it only makes sense that you would write about such an important part of your life as Baby was. I have so many wonderful memories about her that I do not know where to begin.
She always wanted to please, very quick to obey, unless it involved leaving a chocolate bar alone. I remember the day we came home and she had eaten dad’s huge chocolate bar and staggered drunk on chocolate for the remainder of the day. It always amazed us on how she didn’t become ill from that.
Baby was also the first dog I had ever seen who would play hide and seek. Someone would cover her eyes while another one of us would run and hide and she would run all over the house looking for the “hider.” It was such fun.
I loved the way she would sit real close near us to be rubbed and if we didn’t have our hand on her head, she would nuzzle her nose under our hand until our hand was on her head. She was one smart dog.
She moved the quickest when it was time for bed and you said, “Baby..nite nite!” She would jump to her feet and trot to your room with what appeared to be a big grin on her face!
She was definitely devoted to you, Rob. Anytime you were away on a missions trip, she moped around and refused to eat for days. I remember when you left for college that she spent her days on your bed, the place where she had spent each night, and again refused to eat for days. She never did like it when you would return to college after weekends or breaks. Each day I would find her, again curled up on your bed.
She did enjoy one thing about your going to college though…she loved getting to meet your friends, they were new family to her. She loved them all. I remember how excited she would be to meet them, cuddle by them and on their laps and how she would go from room to room, checking on each and every one,making sure everyone was accounted for.
She knew you were in a different stage of life, but she and all of the rest of us knew she would never be replaced. She was and always will be your closest and best friend.
I’m sorry Baby passed away. From the way you always talked about her, she seemed like a very sweet dog.