Good Dog

I was watching the movie Marley & Me the other day and choking up at the end. It reminded me of Copper. Copper was a maniac dog. She drove me crazy. But I sure do miss her. We had to say good-bye to her last June. I know that it has been nearly a year. But it's was a harder decision to make than I bargained for.

Copper came to live with us the same week that Isaac was born. She was about 3 years old. She was a beautiful dog. She had so much energy. Anytime the front door was opened, she ran for it. We chased her down in the car quite a few times. She ate anything that was left out: whole loaves of bread, entire roasts, an entire unopened bag of hershey's kisses (she did spit out the wrappers on the carpet). Twice, in one week, she got sprayed by skunks. That was not fun. But we discovered that if we rubbed Mexican vanilla into her coat, it overpowered the skunk smell, and we had a vanillaroma dog every time it rained for months afterward.

Copper kept the kitchen floor clean. It took me months to figure out why I had to sweep so often after she returned to live with my parents when Isaac was 2 or 3. She would eat all the food the kids dropped during meals. When she left, the kids still dropped food, only I had to clean it up because she wasn't there to eat it. Copper loved to ride in the car. She loved to go after the ducks in the pond; although, she never could even get close to one.

Copper hated thunder and lightening and fireworks. She would run around and bark. The year before she died, she lost her hearing. So the thunder didn't bother her so much anymore. But she could still see the lightning flashes. Whenever there was a storm when we weren't home, she would hide. One time, one of the boys was using the bathroom soon after returning home and Copper jumped out from behind the curtain in the tub. Quite startling. We joked that she was such a smart dog that she knew where the safest place in the house was during severe storms. The bathrooms were one of the few places in the house without windows so she couldn't see the lightning.

Things were frustrating and difficult the last few months of Copper's life. I was hoping she would last until summer, so Dad could see her again. But her quality of life was diminishing. It was hard to see her get old. Saying good-bye to her was hard. Someday we may get another dog. But for now, we'll just remember Copper. She was a good dog.