We'll miss our little buddy

Ten years ago Betty was encouraging me to get a pet to encourage me to walk more. We walked through Pet City and a little fur ball caught Betty's attention. She said that she was getting the dog for me, but for her it was love at first site. He as playful and he loved Betty. It wasn't hard for Betty to love him back. Before long, our bank book was lighter because we bought a puppy, a kennel for training, a leash, a collar, license tags, dog food, and a couple of toys so that he wouldn't wouldn't be chewing the furniture with his sharp little teeth.

We had no way of knowing that over the next few months this little animal would capture our attention, our love, and our devotion.

Betty would not have another dog like the last one we had that we found on our kitchen table with the remnants of a bonsai tree in his teeth. She looked around until she found an obedience school and we were off to obedience school.

The two ladies who taught the class were professional trainers of service dogs. I wasn't convinced that they knew what they were doing. I thought that some of the things that hey had us do were like snake oil to get our money.

One of the things that we had to do was to walk around the house and the yard with a puppy tethered to our waist. He learned to sit when we sat, he learned to move when we moved. He seemed to love being at our sides.

One day, I took Brewster to a local nature reserve. I did as the trainers had assigned us for the weekly homework. I allowed Brewster to walk at my side and gave him more and more leash. When he got busy, I crouched down in front of a tree where I could see him, but he could not see me. He went frantic. He ran from side to side and could not find me, but I was watching him. When I thought he had had enough, I called him and he came to me. He never again let us out of his site.

One of the things that Betty and I enjoyed with him was agility training. He was a bit timid, but after some coaxing, he learned to run the tunnels, weave the through alternating posts, cross bridges and even through a barell that had a dark drape at the end so that he couldn't see the exit. I couldn't always be there because of my church calling (and a hundred other excuses.) Betty and Brewster were faithful with his agility training and before long, they were having a ball.

One thing that amazed me about Brewster was his ability to pick up on our feelings. When there were people in our home that we cared deeply for, he acted on those feelings. He loved who we loved and expressed that affection. He loved our children, our grandchildren, and our friends.

We had a home teacher that was not fond of dogs. He was a cat person. Brewster was persistent. He would lay his chin on the sofa and look up at Russ with his big brown eyes. Before long, they became good friends.

We're not sure what happened. Thursday evening, he was playing as I cut the grass. He lay in the shade and watched me walk back and forth. He didn't seem himself. An hour later, he was sick. We had seen this before and weren't too concerned. When we got up the next morning, he was really in critical condition and we knew it. We bundled him up and took him to the vet, but they weren't able to save him.

Tonight, our home is quite and in our hearts there is an empty spot. I know that there are people who think were extreme with our shower of attention to our little canine friend. What many didn't see was the affection that was returned to us. When we needed to talk, he would cock his ears and tilt his head and listen as no one ever had. When we were needing companionship because we had become empty nesters, he gave that to us. He really became a part of our family. We loved him and he loved us back. We'll miss him.