Dogs

Growing up I always wanted a dog. I begged my parent, offered to do whatever it took, to no avail. I had a few cats, but they either ran away or got hit by a car. Once I had a bunny, it died outside in a windstorm. A few fish, they were found floating upside down in the tank. My brothers had snakes, birds, lizards, the list goes on, but never a dog.

I married a man that grew up with dogs. Not one of those houses where they have like 10 big dogs running around, just one or two. I am sure they were clean and didn't smell, my father-in- law takes great care of his dogs, and my mother-in-law is way too cleanly to let a stinky dog in the house.

So, when we had been married about 7 months, we decided, since we weren't going to have children for a few years (LOL) we would get a dog. Now, I am allergic to shedding dogs. Golden Retrievers and Lab kill me. So, we went with a miniature schnauzer. Rick's sister had one, and he had had one growing up. We did some exploring and found the cutest little thing.

Rick named her Satchel (after some baseball player) I figured that he could have exclusives on naming the dog. That would give me more rights when it came to the kids. She was little and sweet. Even my parents, who never would get me a dog, loved her.

She became the Family dog.

She was a typical puppy. She had her share of accidents while potty training, ate our underwear, chewed our shoes, and even ate one of my text books. I put up with it though, she was cute, and I had time to clean up after her.

Now remember I said we weren't going to have a baby for a few years, so we got a dog. Well, sometimes life surprises you and you just have to go with it! Without going into detail (I sometimes wonder how being pregnant can really be a "surprise") but about 2 month after we got the dog, I found out I was pregnant!

When Satchel was little we fed her canned dog food. That stopped quickly when one morning I threw up everywhere while inhaling the smell of the canned food in the process of opening it. It was not good. From then on, until her later years when she couldn't eat the hard stuff anymore, she lived off of good old Purina.

I didn't blame the dog food incident on her, especially because there were many similar instances to follow that had nothing to do with the smell of dog food.

Satchel was my friend. She would take afternoon naps with me when I would come home from work or class and be exhausted. We walked her, played in the snow with her, and all cuddled on the couch together.

For me though, things changed April 3, 1997. We had a baby. (More on that to follow, this section is about the dog.) For you dog lovers, don't hate me. I just had other things to get me up at night and clean up after. Also, Satchel didn't much care for the baby.

Rick had enough love for the dog for both of us to get her through those early baby years, and she loved him. I was sometimes jealous of their relationship. He always greeted the dog first when coming in the door after a long day (yes, the dog was always the first to the door, so what did I expect.) I guess she didn't tell him about her hard day or ask him to take the trash out.

You will see Satchel often as we journey through the next 11 years. She was a good dog. The kids loved her. She was a part of most everything we did. She loved chocolate (I know it is suppose to kill dogs, but never her!) One Christmas while my parents were "tending" her, she found a wrapped box of Frango Mints in the bottom of a Bon Marche (now Macy's) bag. She was able to get to the bottom of the bag, retrieve the box, unwrapped the box, open it, and individually unwrap each chocolate and devour every last one. For those of you that are familiar with these chocolates, that is an extraordinary feet. Now, correct me if I am wrong Mom, but I don't even think she got sick!

There were many other funny stories, we could make the movie "Satchel and Me (Rick)" I only have come to fully appreciate her as I have dealt with her successor (more on her later as well!)

As happens with dogs, they get old much faster than us. Satchel had about 10 really good years. We never spent much time at the vet or a lot of $$ on random things. About age 10 1/2 she started to go down hill. She lost a lot of weight and wouldn't eat much. She got Cushings Disease and then cancer of some sort. We were in the process of moving out of state when she was at her worst. My wonderful, loving mother (who I am sure is crying about this point in this post) offered to let us leave our puppy behind and when the time was right take care of things for us. Bommy (as my Mom is called by the grandkids, don't ask us why) felt it was just too much for the kids to handle at that point. And so, we said our goodbyes to our friend, our Satchel, and left her in my mom's loving care.

It was just a couple weeks after that Satchel, in a very obvious way, gave my mom the go ahead. She did what you do with old, tired, incontinent dogs. But you know what else she did, she had them wrap Satchel in her favorite blanket and place her worn out body in a box. Then my mom took her back home, dug her a grave in their backyard, and lay her to rest. She even made her a tombstone. (Yes, I am crying now!)

It wasn't until I saw Marley and Me, that I had full appreciation for what my mother went through for us! I love her for it, and believe it or not, I miss Satchel!!

R.I.P Puppy Dog! We miss you!