I just returned from a lovely weekend with Ruby and friends running the Philadelphia Marathon. It was a long, happy weekend full of real laughter and a few tears as we drove, ate pizza, drove, ate pizza, walked, ate pizza, ran a marathon, and more ate pizza. As we ate all the pizza and drove and drove I had a lot of time to reflect on saying good bye to a dog who lived the kind of life most dogs dream about.
Quenton experienced fun travels to far away places, meaningful work and play, human food galore, and plenty of dumpster diving in his 13 and a half. There are only a couple of people that I have made as many crazy memories with! From the day I picked him up from his fairy dogmother, my sister Kim, he didn't have a normal life. After college I was looking for the kind unconditional positive regard from a male that I always knew I deserved and the moment I locked eyes with him I knew he was going to give it! His first night with me I made the mistake of giving into his puppy whimpers by letting him out of the crate to snuggle and it was all downhill after that! Within a week of joining me he totalled my car and caused more concern for my poor parents! His blonde locks and beautiful eyes won them over, sort of like a bad but charming and gorgeous boyfriend (the kind that Q would chew belongings of to make them go away).
We had a wild first year together in our little house in Gouverneur. Without friends close by, Q was my training partner as I undertook the job of turning myself into a fast triathlete. When my boyfriend backed out of a week long trip to a race in Tennessee my father decided the only way I could go was with the big yellow monster! Off we went in my little green pickup, with a camp stove and a very loose plan. Our first night on the road we locked ourselves into the back of the truck in a Days Inn parking lot in Ohio, the second night we met an REI employee/dog owner who invited us to stay at his place, and then we hit a hillbilly filled campground in the hills-thanks to Q I was not afraid in any of these semi sketch situations! The morning of the race I sort of had a plan to find a nice shady parking spot where he could get in and out of the back of the truck and stay cool. If you had the pleasure of meeting my big spaz attack, you know this was a bad bad bad idea! Fortunately, the Boy Scouts were in charge of parking that day and for no money at all they agreed to dog sit during the race! The 4 times I got to run by him that day he barked wildly and almost dragged the boy right out onto the course with me.
We finished the week with a stop to a friend who lived in his parents beautiful home near Philly. The idea for this day was Q could play with my friends dogs in the back yard while we trained. We walked into the immaculately landscaped backyard, complete with coy pond and 3 foot fence and I asked, "do you value those fish and how do your dogs stay contained in that fence?" We tried to keep him in the back yard but huskies have serious separation anxiety and the clean, clear doors lining the back of the house were quickly covered in muddy Q paws. I took him to a park and ran the hell out of him and he had to spend the rest of the day in his kennel (the back of the truck). So much shedding that week and so many botched plans, but one of my favorite trips of my life!
Too many memories! More to come...
Quenton experienced fun travels to far away places, meaningful work and play, human food galore, and plenty of dumpster diving in his 13 and a half. There are only a couple of people that I have made as many crazy memories with! From the day I picked him up from his fairy dogmother, my sister Kim, he didn't have a normal life. After college I was looking for the kind unconditional positive regard from a male that I always knew I deserved and the moment I locked eyes with him I knew he was going to give it! His first night with me I made the mistake of giving into his puppy whimpers by letting him out of the crate to snuggle and it was all downhill after that! Within a week of joining me he totalled my car and caused more concern for my poor parents! His blonde locks and beautiful eyes won them over, sort of like a bad but charming and gorgeous boyfriend (the kind that Q would chew belongings of to make them go away).
We had a wild first year together in our little house in Gouverneur. Without friends close by, Q was my training partner as I undertook the job of turning myself into a fast triathlete. When my boyfriend backed out of a week long trip to a race in Tennessee my father decided the only way I could go was with the big yellow monster! Off we went in my little green pickup, with a camp stove and a very loose plan. Our first night on the road we locked ourselves into the back of the truck in a Days Inn parking lot in Ohio, the second night we met an REI employee/dog owner who invited us to stay at his place, and then we hit a hillbilly filled campground in the hills-thanks to Q I was not afraid in any of these semi sketch situations! The morning of the race I sort of had a plan to find a nice shady parking spot where he could get in and out of the back of the truck and stay cool. If you had the pleasure of meeting my big spaz attack, you know this was a bad bad bad idea! Fortunately, the Boy Scouts were in charge of parking that day and for no money at all they agreed to dog sit during the race! The 4 times I got to run by him that day he barked wildly and almost dragged the boy right out onto the course with me.
We finished the week with a stop to a friend who lived in his parents beautiful home near Philly. The idea for this day was Q could play with my friends dogs in the back yard while we trained. We walked into the immaculately landscaped backyard, complete with coy pond and 3 foot fence and I asked, "do you value those fish and how do your dogs stay contained in that fence?" We tried to keep him in the back yard but huskies have serious separation anxiety and the clean, clear doors lining the back of the house were quickly covered in muddy Q paws. I took him to a park and ran the hell out of him and he had to spend the rest of the day in his kennel (the back of the truck). So much shedding that week and so many botched plans, but one of my favorite trips of my life!
Too many memories! More to come...
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