The Chili Dawg...

Back in 2003, we had to put our first dog, Goliath to sleep.  I'm pretty sure that Goliath is now sitting on Satan's lap helping him rule Hell.  A co-worker of Ryan's knew of a family who had a Golden Retriever that they didn't want anymore and were giving him away for free.  Ryan emailed me a picture of him and I said "yes" immediately, so Ryan set up a meeting.  I fell in love with Chipper (who names a dog that?) as soon as I saw him.  I had been going through a bad bout of depression following my brain injury, and this dog brought me out of it. 

We changed his name to Chili Dawg, and got him fixed up at the vet (he had all sorts of infections going on).  Every day I'd take him for long walks and just pet him.  Chili thinks he's a lap dog, and he will climb right up into your lap, lay his head on your chest with the rest of his body spanning the length of yours.  He knows he's a beautiful dog, and if he were a human, he'd have an entourage of people to follow him around telling him that and grooming him.  One of his favorite things to do is to sit with his face in the wind and let it blow his fur.  He also likes to lay on his back when he sleeps, it's the funniest thing.  He has helped me through a lot.  He knows when I'm upset and just need something to cry into at night.  He lets Juliana use him as a step to climb up, and I'm sure it hurts his arthritis but he has never growled or snapped at her.  Both kids went through the hair, ears, and tail pulling stages and he put up with it.  He's a good and faithful dog.

Well, it's 2011, and my best friend is getting old.  His muzzle is grey.  He has arthritis and walks with a limp.  He has a hard time climbing up into your lap nowadays but he still makes an effort.  He still greets me and the kids at the door everyday with a wagging tail when we get home.  He still sits with his face in the wind, being beautiful.  He doesn't wrestle with his Boxer brother as much anymore, and he has slowed down when he's running in the back yard.  He's still my crying blanket, even more so these past couple years as the stresses have added up.  I know that eventually he will no longer be with us, but I hope that day is long in coming because I don't know what I would do without him.  People say that they're just animals, but I don't think they understand that some animals can change your life.