A Man and His Dog

Today has been a really difficult day. We had to put down our Basenji, Howl. He has been very ill and quit eating during this past month. He's had some other symptoms recently, but I won't go into those. My poor husband is having a very tough month as it is, and this just added to it. Lexi sure adds a lot of light around our house right now when it is needed most. She giggled for the first time last night! SO cute!!

"Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, filling an emptiness we don't even know we have." - Thom Jones

Howl was the craziest dog I have ever met. Keith and Howl had a special bond. He really wasn't a fan of other dogs. Keith always joked it was because he was picked on as a puppy. You will be missed Howl.

•  We will miss having to shut the bathroom door each time we leave because you LOVE toilet paper.
• We will miss placing any food anywhere near where you can stretch your paws on the kitchen counter after coming in the room to an empty bag of calizone.
• We will miss using your tail as a 'plug' on the way home from college every weekend.
• We will miss coming home to you destroying an article of our clothing by pulling it into the cage with you, even if it was my underwear.
• We will miss clapping our hands as fast as we could and watching you run in circles on the wood floor like Bambi on ice.
• We will miss you creating, or rather maintaining, the indention in our couch from laying in your favorite spot each day.
• We will miss having to call you to come back inside while you run towards us as proud as can be after rolling in cow manure.
• We will miss pulling into our driveway and watching you pace in circles because we were home.
• We will miss how you liked to stand in the car, regardless of how wobbly you were.
• We will miss looking back at pictures and noticing how you always end up in them. You were always nearby. I think you had separation anxiety disorder.
• We will miss you during Christmas time. You hated Christmas. You always tried to eat the paper off the presents or destroy the Christmas decorations.
• We will miss Lexi getting to chase you around once she is mobile trying to pull your curly tail. I'm sure you guys would have been good buds.

Just an example of how Howl is in the background of a lot of our pics. This is one of my preggo pics, and I had no idea Howl was in it. Precious to look at now...

You were a good dog Howl. Thank you for the tears, laughs, and creativity you brought to our lives. You would have been 12 years old on Halloween, as old as Keith and my relationship. It's been an entertaining 12 years. Rest peacefully...