Sunday March 9 2014
Butkus—named after Dick Butkus, the intimidating Chicago
Bears linebacker--is my constant
companion. He has been with me for almost
12 years now. He is a Newfoundland,
large and black with a happy face. I got
him from a small yard outside the upholsterer’s here in Midden Harbour. There were 6 puppies, and I picked him at
random. They were all cute and rambunctious. But it was an inspired choice. He’s my guy, and I’m his.
When Butkus was about two, I got him a friend. Babe—named after Paul Bunyan’s blue ox--was a
pure Newfie, but being a female was
smaller than him. She was gentler
too. Had a softness that came out in They
want her demeanor, her movements, even the way she looked at you. She and Butkus
were soulmates. They were together all
day every day, following me around, mooching food off half the village, chasing
errant bears who wandered into one of the neighbour’s yard lured by the scent
of garbage.
I say ‘was’ because Babe was shot a few years back. Don’t know who did it, and really haven’t
tried to find out. Could have been
someone with a grudge against me, or could have been a dog hater, or could have
just been she was mistaken for a bear.
No matter, she’s gone, and Butkus and I miss her.
Butkus will be gone too before too long. Big dogs don’t age well, and his breed has a
history of hip dysplasia. Mind you, he’s
still pretty active at 12, better than most.
Maybe I’ll be lucky and he’ll last another 6 or so years. It won’t all be easy, I’m sure, but as long
as he’s not in pain, I’m willing to adjust.
Can imagine—maybe even hope, because it will mean I’ll have his company
longer—that there will come a time when he won’t be able to make the jump from
the dock over the gunnel to the deck of our boat. I’ve had these daydreams of a scene with me
bending down to pick him up, and struggling for balance on the swaying
dock. In these scenes it is inevitably cold
and pouring rain and Butkus’s hair has absorbed an additional ten pounds of
water making him even heavier and a lot more slippery.
It’s a happy image for all of the sadness of the
circumstances.
I love my dog.
