A Year without Petey

Tomorrow marks one year since Petey crossed the rainbow bridge.  It is not lost on me that I am having surgery tomorrow for hip replacement, and Petey's hips are what finally did him in.  What is lost on me is something clever to say about it.  :)

A lot has happened in a year:

• We have chickens.  We don't think Petey would like them.  They aren't quite as cuddly and not nearly as smart as Petey.
• Every plant that we have put on Petey's undisclosed burial site has died.  Is there a meaning there?  I don't know.
• We have done a lot of traveling, as we are true empty nesters now.

Some things have not changed:

• We find Petey fur on furniture that has been vacuumed more than once during the year.
• We still talk about Petey and wonder what he would think about various things, like the aforementioned chickens.
• We still miss him.

Petey was such a big presence in our lives that we will probably always miss him.  It is now with a laugh rather than a sigh.  In fact, I am smiling as I type.  I am glad that we had Petey for as long as we did and I am glad that he still makes me smile.

This Ain't Pete!

John and I are dog-sitting this week with Sterling's boxer, Calli.   When he asked if we would consider keeping her, I was totally willing.  Besides doing the right thing by family, I was glad to have a little four legged company during the day.  I still miss Petey.

I knew there would be some differences between the two:

• Male/Female
• Rat Terrier/Boxer
• 10-12 lbs/90+ lbs

I discovered a few things they have in common: 

• They don't know their size.  Petey was small but would have taken on a lion in battle. He once challenged a huge, muzzled dog in the park.  Calli is big but tries to get in my lap when I'm on the couch. (Here's an example of Calli thinking she is little.  She's trying to lay in Petey's old bed!)
  

  

  apparently she thinks if her front paws are in, it counts!
  

• They both prefer to be wherever the people are.
• They both pee in the house.

I had not considered, however, the biggest difference - Petey was smart.  I'm not saying that Calli is as dumb as a box of hammers or anything like that.  She's probably of at least average intelligence for her breed. Just sayin'

•  Calli does not know English.  Petey did.  We would tell Petey to do things like go to bed, or get his green ring and he would.  Calli just looks at us with a sweet, yet very confused look on her face when we try to talk to her. Even after Petey started losing his hearing, we created hand gestures to go along with the voice commands and he learned those very quickly.
• We would tell Petey how long we would be gone and he seemed to understand.  He seemed to have a concept of time even when we were here.  He certainly knew when it was bed time! Calli doesn't seem to care when we leave although she seems happy when we return. (I must confess here that I have had an almost overwhelming urge to fling treats in the kitchen floor and rush out the door when I have left the house this week!)
• Petey liked to play.  He & John would play hide & seek in the house.  If Petey couldn't spot him, he'd sniff him out.  Calli got very upset when John tried to play it with her.  We've been afraid to try the smelling game.

  

  let's just say Calli is a little more relaxed than Petey
  

I have said all along that we spoiled Petey. After this week though, I'm beginning to wonder if it is the other way around.  Maybe Petey spoiled us.

Petey's Birthday

We would have celebrated Petey's 17th birthday yesterday if he were still with us.  It wasn't as bad as I (Lori) thought it might be.  We took a little time over the weekend to remember Petey and we did so with smiles.  He made our lives fuller and we'll miss him, and we now remember him fondly.