In memory of BEAR

We had a houseful of children and had various pets and varmits they all claimed during their childhood..living in the country made it just natural to have pet turkeys, kittens, sally the pig, and all sorts of puppies, mostly mutts.

BEAR came to us when Zack was about 7 and wanted his "OWN" dog.  We found a want ad in the news for boxer-lab pups.

Roger took him and everyone else that packed in to go "get a puppy" and Zack picked out little BEAR.  He was all black and the cutest little thing you ever saw.  The fella wanted Roger to take the entire litter and said he would throw in the dog house too if he would just take them. He said they each could have their "own" since we had a child plus more for every pup he had left.

He just brought home BEAR. 

Roger is adamant about NO animals in the house.  The children were all worried about Baby BEAR on the porch in his box but Poppee assured them he would be just fine after he got used to being away from his mama.  It didn't take but a few hours of his wailing and whining and the children had Roger talked into letting him be on the fireplace mantle or by the clothes dryer if they didn't let him run loose in the house.

Next thing I knew they were feeding him hot dogs by the crackling fireplace.  He stole all our hearts.

BEAR was faithful, obedient, watchful, gentle and loved to swim and retrieve.  If the boys couldn't find a deer they had shot, they would come home and get BEAR and he would track it right down for them.  He RARELY got into trouble EXCEPT a FEW times!!  He got a dog spanking of his life when

he got an appetite for goat and dug into Chelsey's Rabbit Park Pen and killed her newborn goat just to be a hunter I guess? and BEAR understood "English"!

I could tell him we would be back on Saturday nite and we would head off for Grandpa's farm and he would circle round and round the car and watch us pack and then get into all kinds of trouble while we were gone overnite.  The worst he ever did was when we came home to all our laying hens scattered over the yard midst a pile of feathers and all Chelsey's pet rabbits slain on top of the chickens (I always wonder if he didn't have some help from a fox or another dog accomplice?)

That just wasn't like him and as long as we were around he was the BEST BEAR!

But we did make a mistake when we let him walk with us to the pond to see Chelsey's brand new white ducks swimming in their home!  He spotted them and swam the 3 acre pond for hours until he got them both, even going under water, and much to Chelsey's dismay – he feasted on DUCK for dinner that night. Sometimes he could be VERY naughty!

When Zack moved out on his own he became Marmee's bodyguard (as if I needed another one since I have Carpenter??) BEAR never let me walk or swing or be outside on the acres without being right by me.  If I would be puttering in my herb garden...that is where he would nap.  If I went for a walk and stopped a minute – he stopped too.

He watched and waited and would not walk on without me. 

BEAR was napping more and more these past months and getting a bit thin. We all knew he couldn't live forever but none of us wanted to think of when he wouldn't be at the back door taking his nap and looking up at us or walking with us to the pond to watch the boys fish.

We buried him last week in the family burial plot on the acres.  Saturday he meandered down to the pond but didn't make it and went off the path a few feet and laid down in the woods and died.

We all miss our BEAR! The boys made him a headstone from one of the porch pavers they had made and put his studded collar around it. The daisys are blooming in the burial field so he got a proper bouquet. sniff sniff sniff.....