I had an amazing dog.

He was an old soul – gentle and loving. 

He was a goof ball. So big, he couldn’t help but be a bit of a lummox.

He looked ferocious, but that was so far from the truth. Except if you were a cat. Or the obnoxious dog that lives behind us (god, he hated that dog). With his hackles up, he looked his most wolfish. 

He howled at sirens. Threw back his huge head and had a great, big, deep howl. I like to think he was crying out with them. 

He ate Chinook’s (the cat) poop right out of her cat box (I called them kitty ferrero rochers).

He let the kids crawl all over him.

He was a good morning face-licker. 

He knew I like to sleep in and would bug everyone else before me to let him out in the morning, 

He loved to eat Kleenex and toilet paper.

He snored. And farted in his sleep. SBDs.

He liked to have his paw/hand held. He would come up to you, sit beside you and put his paw on your leg to have you hold it. It would get really annoying. I will miss it now. 

He shed like a mo’ fo’. When the kids got home today – they knew he may not be there. Everyone cried. Had questions. Georgia was the first to pick up a tuft of his fur, and then they all collected some. I put it in a glass jar. 

He was a rotten puppy – he made me doubt my ability to be patient enough for children. 

He herded the kids when we went for walks in the woods. They were his people. He checked their rooms when they were away. Always letting out big sighs when he couldn’t find them. He loved it when they came home. He would lick them, make it impossible for them to get their shoes off, knock them down in his exuberance. 

He hated being wet.

He had the softest fur just at the base of his ears.

He ran with me once, he made it half way and I had to drag him home. He was sore for days. 

He loved playing fetch with his kong. Especially when I mowed the lawn. 

He ran at a gallop – you could feel his paws hit the earth in your chest.

Today I held in him my arms, stroking his head and ears, telling him thank you – I love you – I’m sorry – as he died. I kept whisper-crying these things as I felt him relax into me. 

He was my confidant, my protector, my companion and I will miss him. 

He was Alex, our dog.