Canine Funeral

I was reading a post of Janet's a while back and it gave me the idea for this entry ... and then I kept forgetting to take a pic to go with it!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my BFF's part time dog, Bart.

Before Bart came along, his owners had another dog named Loco... a HUGE German Shepherd. When I first moved here, before I discovered our creek, I would walk along our southernmost mountain road with my rottie, Maggie May. The first time I took that road toward my BFF's house, I stumbled upon Loco, laying in this driveway.


At the time, they had a large bed for him by the right gate. Leery of a large dog I didn't know, I hugged the other side of the street for the longest time and was even shocked that the big dog followed us for some distance. I thought it was the strangest canine slow speed "chase" I had ever witnessed.

Somewhat frightened by this encounter, I started asking other dog walkers about this shepherd. I soon learned that he was old and well loved and a roamer. His folks gave up on keeping him in but he had mellowed a bit in his old age, hence the bed. Every dog walker in town knew his name and assured me he was super friendly. They also encouraged me to ask him if he would like to join Maggie and I on our walk.

"What if don't want to walk back by his house? I like to vary my route..."

I was assured that when Loco felt he was too far from home or tired, he would simply turn and go home.

So the next time I passed, I nervously introduced myself to this big furry shepherd and to my surprise, he was every bit as friendly as promised. I asked if he wanted to join us and he did! This time he stayed with us until we turned on my BFF's street.

From then on, whenever we walked that way, we asked Loco to pack up with us. He was so low - key and sweet.

Often when I was driving home that way, I would see him on his bed and I would stop and tell him hi.

And then, Maggie and I returned from a trip to Louisiana and didn't see Loco. We missed him for several days when I finally asked another dog person. Loco had passed away.

Apparently the word had spread throughout the neighborhood and all the dogs and people who loved him gathered at his bed in his driveway. They shared stories about him and had a good collective cry.

It's certainly one funeral I'm sorry to have missed.