14 Memories Involving My Dog

In 7 1/2 weeks Chip and I will have a birthday. Yes, we celebrate on the same day.

These last 2 months have been especially hard on Chip health-wise. I have been taking a lot of photos of us together. I am hoping this helps prepare me for his passing.

He will be 20 and I will be 54. In people years, however, Chipster will be 140 years old. Wowser.

In this photo we are at the vet’s office. He has not been eating or drinking much this past week.

This is probably selfish of me, but I hope he rallies and gets back to taking food and water. I am not ready for him to go.

Chip has lived with me for almost 14 years. I have many good memories of him. Here are 14 of them. One for every year we’ve been together.

1. Relief. When we lived in Colorado, Chip loved to walk to the mail box with me. Besides doing a lot of sniffing, he LOVED to pee on the post.
2. Tricks. He does tricks like shake, sit, lie down, twirl, find Elizabeth, and walk through the rack (the one used to corral pool table balls). On command he can point to the cupboard where his treats are. However, Chip pretends he doesn’t know how to rollover. He HATES doing that trick.
3. Kick you. Chip has a peculiar way of telling you he wants to play. He turns his back-end to you and then kicks you with his hind legs.
4. Bite! The only way Chip really played was to bite your hand or play tug-of-war. As he got older and lost his teeth, he didn’t play so much any more. We think his first people never taught him or encouraged him to play with toys or fetch.
5. Walk me. Taking walks is the highlight of his day except when it is cold or rainy out. He is more agreeable to going out, if I hold an umbrella OVER HIM. 🙂
6. Last. When we took family walks, Chip had to be the last one. He would have a fit and keep trying to get to the back of the line, if we wouldn’t let him be last. It was as if this little squirt was trying to protect us by guarding the rear.
   

   I love how Chip’s tongue is hanging out of his mouth. He is sitting next to the toilet paper tee-pees that my daughter made.

7. Hold Me. Chip is definitely a lap dog. He wants to be on a lap at all times; or laying RIGHT next to you in the bed. For a 12 inch long, 3.7 pound dog, he’s quite the bed-hog
8. Amiable. Chip has always been a good-natured animal. He let my nieces dress him up in dolls’ clothes and parade him around on a pillow. And I keep learning more and more ways that my children teased Chip. I.e. One time my son “tied” Chip up by wrapping some toilet paper round his body. But Chip was persistent and smart enough to get out.
9. Yummy. For some reason he LOVES to lick my daughter’s feet. I think that’s gross.
10. Kisses. He is good at sneaking a kiss every now and then.
11. Escape. He once escaped from the back yard and was gone for 3 days in San Francisco. My son put posters on the doors in the neighbourhood. Turns out Chip was only a couple of doors away. The people didn’t want to return Chip. It’s a good memory because he was found.
    

    When Chip doesn’t feel well, he curls up under my neck.

12. Wiggle-butt. I love how Chip gets all excited by wiggling his body, twirling, and yelping whenever someone he likes enters a room. He also tries to give them a lick or two.
13. Nicknames. Nicknames are a sign of affection. Since Chip has captured our hearts, we have nicknames for him like Chip Buff-Dog Symington, Chipster, Viejo, and Little Man.
14. Facebook. Chip has a Facebook account (Chip Wright). There are some cute photos of him there. Because of his poor health, Chip hasn’t been very good about posting regularly.

EDITED TO ADD: Chip passed away January 29th, 2012.

NOTE: This is the 4th photo in my series, A Winter of Self Portraits.

Your Turn . . .

• If you know Chip, would you share a memory about him?
• What are some good memories you have about your animal?
• What have you found to be helpful in regards to grieving for your pet when you know his/her time is near? For after his/her death?

Related Posts . . . 

• 5 Reasons I Love My Pet (from Fruitful Words)
• Is It Okay to Grieve? Or Should You Just Be Quiet? (from The High Calling)