About a Dog

Let me say up front that I don't think that all blog entries need to be funny or exciting. The point of a blog, in my naive view, is to communicate something about the author (or authors in this case). And what follows certainly meets that minimum requirement. So read on and learn a little bit.

Chloe, as most of you know, is our dog. Actually, she is more child than pet, and in many aspects we love her as much we will love any child that eventually comes our way. We sleep with her, dote on her at every opportunity, and plan our weeks and weekends around her. We centered our wedding party around her, and, most recently, we planned our Labor Day Weekend around her.

So why? The normal cliches about love and pets all apply. Our 14-year-old puppy might be a little lumpy, she might not hear so well anymore, she might eat more than a fat kid in a cake store, and she might not move as well as she once did. But she is still the most lovable person I have ever known. Yeah, I said person. Calling her a pet seems somehow like downplaying her role. Chloe is family.

To be fair, Chloe has struggled with her health her entire life. Cancer, a bad knee, a virtually nonexistent immune system, 4 teeth, and a bevy of other problems leading to our expression of love in the form of thousands of dollars. But the most recent trip to the vet was perhaps worse than the previous.

We were going to have a lypoma removed so she could walk a little better. We planned to be around all weekend to stay with our Frankendog, all cut up and healing. But we found out that the surgery did not happen. Her albumin levels were too low, indicative of the worst.

The cancer that she has battled with for years has now likely become systemic. She drinks a lot of water, and that means there is a lot of peeing at the Bushong house. But beyond that, Chloe is about as happy as I have ever seen. She cuddles a little longer, she is a bit happier when we get home, and she eats a bit more than normal. But she sure looks good. But those tests... they just don't lie.

So Stacy and I decided we wanted to have a Chloe weekend. We wanted to get away to a place where dogs were not only welcome but invited. So we headed up to the Stanford Inn by The Sea in Mendocino.

This place was awesome. Nice rooms, comfy beds, a great organic grounds, llamas, horses, and all kinds of birds. It was a neat place situated near the coast. When we first walked into the lobby, Chloe was immediately, well, she was a dog. Chloe is not normally a dog, so imagine our surprise when she was bouncing around, sniffing, and acting like all the other canines.

That night, Chloe accompanied us to dinner. Yeah, they let her sit with us at the table, and I got to feed her from the table. Vegan food. Yumm. Sort of. The next day was a dog beach. Wow. As soon as we hit the sand, she was a 2-year-old all over again. She bounced. She weaved. She ran. She breathed a lot - yeah, she is still old, and that other stuff took its toll on her. But she looked fantastic. She was really excited. It was nice, and it was hard to remember that she was battling what will eventually do her in. Every moment of happiness was grounded in the sobering thought that this might be our last real vacation with her. But knowing that allowed us to cherish literally every moment.

On Sunday, we went in a dog canoe. I will not write about that in detail. Let me just suggest that canoeing into a 40mph headwind is hard.

The point of this trip was simple. We wanted to cherish our dog. We don't know how long we have, and truth be told, when that moment comes, we will be wrecks - both of us. We love that dog - no, we love Chloe like she is our child. And when the unthinkable comes, we will be able to look back on this weekend, on these three days, and know that we celebrated our time with her. We celebrated life with the one animal who brings life to us. And in the end, is there anything more you can do than to love the people and family you have while you have them?

Stacy and I certainly loved this weekend. And because of Chloe and all the joy she has inside her, Stacy and I are closer to Chloe... Indeed, we are closer to each other. I know our family will not always be like it is right now as I am typing, but I will forever remember a frolicking dog in the sand or a cuddly dog almost tipping our canoe. That dog, Chloe, will be with me forever, always with the same toothless smiling grin we saw this weekend. And with any luck, I will leave this same world when it is my time with the same toothless grin and refusal to be old. We really should all live like puppies, our entire lives.