Clairedog by MaryBeth / Your grieving Mommy

Clairedog was my baby for 13 1/2 years and I can hardly believe that she is gone. I miss her so much already.

I picked Claire out from a litter of happy puppies who were living with their mom (a golden retriever) and dad (a cocker spaniel)–I selected Claire because of her loving personality and beautiful coloring. This was a long time ago when I was in school–I took her for lots of hikes in the woods where she would run sniffing ahead of me. Periodically, I would hide behind a tree and she always came back to find me when she realized I was gone.

It is so hard to “summarize” her–she lived for walking and eating–but also loved working on “projects” such as eating tennis balls, rawhide, chew hooves, and anything else she could her her paws on. She was a true “dog’s dog” in that she loved to be dirty and smelly and would trailblaze her way through life.

And did I mention how much she loved to eat? Her favorites were cupcakes and bananas and any leftover dinner–she served as our resident dishwasher and food spill vacuum cleaner. She also liked to come over and demand a belly rub by tapping on your legs with one of her front paws when she wasn’t trying to get you in the kitchen to dole out meaty bones or greenies. She was lucky to remain healthy for most of her life–in fact she continued to pull on her leash until she was 12 and less than a week before her death, I was asked if she were a puppy.

Her very favorite place on the earth was the beach–probably because it allowed her to really run and dig holes and cool off in the surf and chew on smelly crabs and other tasty surprises. Her ashes will be spread there in her memory.

I know she is in a better place where all of her joints are working well again and she is no longer in pain from the cancer that killed her but I simply don’t know what I’m going to do without her.

Claire, you are my angel dog and I love you very much.

 

Until we meet again,
Clairedog
MaryBeth