For the first time since January 1994, we have no dogs in the house. Two weeks ago, our sweet little spitfire terrier, Blackie, crossed the rainbow bridge. That dog came into our lives by pure accident. Back in October 2007, my sister-in-law Jeanne, went to yoga with my sister Debbie. Never before, and never since has Jeanne joined Debbie at her regular yoga class. This class happened to be in the instructor’s home. That home happened to have sustained some water damage that needed repair. The repairman happened to stop his truck in the middle of a 5 lane road in West Chicago to pick up a puppy that was wreaking havoc on rush hour traffic. When he got to the yoga house, he asked the small group of ladies if they knew anyone that needed a cute little puppy. In her infinite wisdom, Jeanne thought of me, because my 14 year old black lab, Leo, was experiencing health issues. Clearly, time to get a puppy. But I was dropping Tayden off at preschool, so I didn’t answer my phone (back in the day of home phones).  Since she couldn’t get ahold of me, she took the puppy and brought her to my house. That dog never left. Tayden was all into his colors, so her unfortunate name was created. Tayden had a whole list of super heroes, green man, pink girl, yellow man, so the dog became Blackie. I told Travis we should change her name, to which he replied, “You can call her whatever you like, she isn’t staying.” 

Well, she left, because she was a RUNNER! It’s not surprising that she ended up in the middle of a road. We spent many a day hunting our Blackie girl down in the Meadows subdivision. So, we got an invisible fence for our free puppy, which mostly solved the running problem. The first time we brought her to the lake, she took off up the winding street. By the time we got up to the top of the hill, she was nowhere to be found. We had corn on the right and lake homes on the left. I told the kids that I hoped she didn’t go into the corn, because we would never find her. So, we started calling her (like that would help) and walking between houses and onto other people’s docks to look for her. It was awkward, but we met some great people on that search. And we found her. As I cornered her at the end of a stranger’s dock, she tried to get past me. We both almost ended up in the water. So, we got invisible fence at the lake for our free dog. 

Since Leo moved on just 9 months after Blackie entered our lives, at some point (around October 2011), we decided that we needed to add a big dog back into our lives. In our own heads, we weren’t small dog owners… but we were. We got three year old Roscoe (our beloved chocolate lab mix) from a shelter by the lake. Blackie was not too pleased with this new “brother.” One of the first things Roscoe did was run right over Blackie in the backyard. She lost control of her tail. We took her to the vet and found out that damage to the base of the tail is dangerous. Fortunately, it was just a sprain. Eventually, she came around to Roscoe. 

In fact, after the move to Indiana and the addition of the cats, she became the Queen dog. I am convinced that she conspired with the cats. One day, I left cooked chicken in a container on the island, so Trav could easily eat dinner when he got home from work. I had to run the kids around. I was careful to put it in the middle of the island so the dogs couldn’t get it. I wasn’t used to having cats yet. The cats couldn’t open the container, so they pushed it off the island. I picture all four animals feasting on Travis’ chicken dinner. It was fried chicken, and there was a lot of it, so the dogs took some of it to the basement and either lost it in the couch down there, or buried it for later. It was a fun, greasy discovery later. And our free dog cost us a new couch. 

The stories of our nearly 16 years with Blackie are endless. For right now, they fill the void that the dogless house creates. I don’t think we will get another dog. It was easier with the kids to entertain the endless demands of a dog. We are nearly empty nesters, so the dogs moved on at the same time that the kids are moving on. Actually, that was the plan all along. I just didn’t consider the emotional fall-out of losing both dogs within a few months. But the stories will carry us through. Jeanne, don’t bring us another dog. This time, I will send it back home with you.

Have a great week everyone!