Pete

It has taken me over a week to be able to write this - I have lost pets before but none that affected me as deeply as this one. He was much more like a child with fur - a child that we raised for 10 1/2 years only to lose him to Lymphoma and if that had not taken him the severe heart murmur would have.

He was 11 1/2 when he died and a joy to everyone who met him.

Pete was our first boxer and a rescue. We got him at the ripe old age of 1 and when we went to see him - to see if we connected with him, he ran out of the house, leash on and in his mouth, all set to take himself for a walk. The beautiful prancing trot and that boxer face - I was sold, and told the hubby "he is coming home with us today" and he did.

He was an in-the-house dog and pretty much house broken - in the 10 1/2 years that we had him, I think he only had 2 problems in the house and 1 of those was because he was sick. He helped to teach Shelby and Buster who was boss and it was never questioned. As he got older he learned to communicate with us. There are witnesses who heard him say mama more than once. When he was hungry there was a pattern of looking at you with "that look" and then a gentle paw on the lap and then if all of that was ignored - he would bark in that woowoo way that only a boxer can.

He was polite to visitors, even getting on his tummy for children visitors and as spoiled as any dog on this planet can be. He hated going out in the rain, to do his business, so sometimes we had to take an umbrella to keep him dry. He had his own bed and toys and we fed him the best food we could buy (with the occasional Frito), he loved to go in the car so sometimes he got to go for a ride - we took very very good care of him and loved him so much and in return he loved us in that unconditional way that dogs love their people. He was never really a dog to us...just a person in different skin :).

I won't write all about his illness and what happend because his life was not about "the end" - it was about the joy, the laughter, the silliness and the fun that comes with being the parent of a boxer. Yes, we have 2 more at home - Shelby who is 8 1/2 and Buster who is 3. I posted a picture of the trio at Christmas, and Im glad that I did because that was the last picture that I took of Pete.

I know that dogs have souls and I know where Pete's loving soul is and because of that I know that I will see him again someday and I will hug him and let him know how much I missed him for he is missed more than he could ever imagine! But for now, he is following Jesus around trying to get HIM to give him a treat :) (Im not trying to be sacrilegious, the thought made me smile).