We Will Miss You, Doggone-it!

All Dogs Go To Heaven.

It's a movie I've never seen, but I believe in the concept.

And today, dog-heaven had its population increase by one. By one very fine canine.

Our dog, Odie, passed away this morning. He lived nearly 15 years. He was a Humane Society Hound. We adopted him in 1993 when we lived in southern Indiana. He was part black Lab, part Chow, but 100% lovable.

We didn't know many of our neighbors at the time. But once Odie became ours, we knew the whole block. He was a real kid-magnet in his day. We were one of 2 kid-less couples on the block, but we had the only dog. So believe it or not, our house was often kid-central. Our neighbor girls made him the Grand Marshall of their 4th of July Parade one year. They even had a birthday party for him once or twice. They gave him dog treats and homemade dog toys. And he always had a front-row seat for their frequent talent shows.

When we moved a few years later, and a few years after that, we were still one of the only kid-less couples on the block, but the ones with a dog. Again, Odie helped us get acquainted with our new neighbors. Obviously his social skills were superior to ours.

Odie endured the addition of a cat to the family, and then eventually a baby, and lastly a toddler. He was a good, faithful friend.

In his prime, he loved a good game of frisbee or chase (or chase the cat) and looked forward to long walks. Recently though, he had a hard time getting around and he developed canine cognitive dysfunction - aka Alzheimer's in dogs.

I never really knew such a thing existed until, after several frustrating months/years, we discussed his behavior with our vet.

I also never knew having a dog would be so great.

And I never knew I'd miss one so much either.