Theodore Edward Bear

My Teddy Bear

1/17/1999-3/7/2009

One dark and stormy night...well, it was!...Theodore Edward Bear was born and fell right into my hands. After he was cleaned up, i was holding a tiny, fawn-coloured puff of fur with a white cross right in the middle of his face. i really wasn't ready for another dog. It was too soon after YoYo and Knothead. But when I heard he would be going to the pound, I had to take him.

Teddy Bear was, as near as we could tell, a chow-corgi mix. he looked like a one foot tall collie with hair 11 inches long. His dad was a golden chow and Teddy Bear had his colouring and the chow undercoat. Can we say hair mats? His underbelly fur was pure white with translucent hairs mixed in and silky soft. He loved tummy rubs, and I loved giving them to him. Why yes, he did prefer to live outside, in the dirt under the house. Yes, it was almost impossible to bathe him, but he preferred his dirt dry.

Wednesday, he was pulling me down the street during his walk. Thursday, he just went a short way before heading home. Friday, he walked across the street, then came into the yard and lay down. I put his water bowl under the house, closer to him, and worried about him all night at work. This morning, when I came in from work, I checked on him. Hardly any water was gone, and his gooshy food was untouched. We went to the Vet.

After the check-up and a heartworm test, the doctor said the best he could do was make him feel better, sort of, for a couple of weeks. The dog who would chase leaves until he caught 'em and they couldn't run away anymore? The dog who thought he should be able to climb the trees and get the squirrels, or wished he could fly so he could catch the birds? Live a few weeks longer, unable to do those things? He was snuggling in my arms, looking sad, so tired, so lethargic. He looked at me with love and trust in his eyes. His kidneys were failing, he was losing control of his bowels. With tears running down my face, I signed the paper. I held him as he crossed to the summerlands and I am still crying.

I miss my puppy