Goodbye Old Friend

When I married Garrett he came with little baggage in comparison to many other men. There were few things that weren't negotiable and I loved that about him. But he was going nowhere without his Brittany Spaniel, Brittany (That is what a 12 year old names his dog). Being a dog lover myself I was all for it. However, I had never met a dog quite like Brittany. From day 1 I learned that she was her own dog, preferring to be outdoors for hours, especially if Garrett was outside. If we were inside she was in and out all day as if she could not decide between being with him or being outside. All attempts by Garrett's dad to turn her into a hunting dog failed miserably. She just wasn't interested in filling that role when it was so much more interesting to sniff out squirrels, chase squirrels or dream about chasing and sniffing squirrels (she ran and barked in her sleep). She would roam around the house and the neighbors homes. Garrett lived in a small neighborhood and more then one neighbor told me about how Brittany would greet them on their porches when they came home.  It wasn't until later years after I had moved in and noticed that Brittany's hearing wasn't as good as it used to be that we fenced in the backyard to protect her from cars she might not hear. That started her new mission. Every morning, she would be let out and would commence sniffing the fence perimeter for an escape and find plenty she did in the first few weeks. Then she would eat and nap and run the perimeter again in case she missed something. This would last all day. She was the most diligent dog I had ever met. She never waivered in her love of Garrett or her desire to roam fence free.
Brittany died Saturday morning, peacefully despite her kidneys failing. My only wish was that we could have had just one more day.  She was 15 and never reconciled to the fact that she was too old to play, too old to run or too old to cause trouble.  Murphy and Maggie miss you!

Comments

[Stephanie]

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. She seems like she was a very lucky dog and I'm sure she knew how much she was loved.

[erica]

I'm so sorry to read about your loss of Brittany. Brittany obviously lived every day to its fullest. It's so hard to loose a pet, they are part of the family. When I lost my cat George this summer, the other cat Chloe mourned for him for a long time. Chloe being able to sniff George was very therapeutic for all of us since she wasn't meowing around the house looking for him.