|
|
Whenever our growing family gets together—sons, wives, and grandkids—at some point we declare "Dog Circus!" and we gather the family dogs to perform their various entertaining tricks. I enjoy being the circus master, lining them up to show off their individual talents.
Our dog, Fearless, the fearful golden retriever, has mastered shaking a paw and rolling over. He is also very good at sitting still with a dog biscuit on his snout until we give him an okay signal.
My son Ben’s dog, Houlie, the blue heeler, although a bit offended to be considered one of the dogs, does an adorable little dance and sits pretty for a treat.
My son Gideon’s dog, Dipper, the huge, clumsy, black lab mix doesn’t do much more than shake a paw. His main trick is controlling his hyperactivity when he is inside the house.
We lost the other member of our dog circus this week. Twelve-year-old Gizmo, our "old" golden retriever died. Gizmo was Gideon’s dog, a Christmas present when he was a teenager, but he was special to all of us. We tease Gideon’s wife, Sara, that he had Gizmo before he had her. He was part of our family for 12 years.
Gizmo’s dog circus tricks were sit, shake a paw, jump, and balance a biscuit on the nose. However, Gizmo’s greatest trick was the gentle way he faced the world.
When Gizmo was a gangly six months old, we enrolled him in obedience classes and Chuck was the one who was able to make it to most of the classes. They bonded as Gizmo learned to sit, heel, and stay. Gizmo was a fast and cheerful learner. Years later, he would come running when Chuck clapped his hands for him.
He loved hiking with us and one of the funniest sights I’ve ever seen was watching him as a puppy, trying to keep up with us on snowshoes.
When Sara fell in love with Gideon, she knew Gizmo was part of the package. In fact, when she was living alone when Gideon went off to college, she asked if Gizmo could go stay with her. It made sense, so we let Gizmo move out, thinking we’d get him back. We didn’t. He became the mascot at Sara’s daycare.
He was the perfect daycare dog, letting babies crawl over him and sitting patiently as toddlers put barrette in his fur. He tolerated being dragged around on a leash that he didn’t really need.
When Gideon and Sara got married and moved away to Illinois, they took Gizmo with them, to our dismay. Many parents complain that they get stuck taking care of their grown children’s dogs when they move out. We were not so lucky.
We were delighted when they moved back to Grand Marais, bringing our new granddaughter and our Gizmo. We were blessed to have several more years with Gizmo. He will be dearly missed. Our dog circus won’t be the same without our good old dog.
You think dogs will not be in heaven?
I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Leave a Reply