I know it’s been a while. I haven’t felt inspired to write, and that’s the long and short of it. Between work and the world and just plain life, it’s just how it is sometimes. I guess that’s the beauty of writing a blog just because you want to: you write it when and if the mood strikes you and only then. I had a few thoughts for today, but I was scrolling through Facebook earlier this afternoon and came upon a post from a former colleague of mine about her dog, Bryden, more often known as Bad Puppy.
I met Bad Puppy when I started my current job back in October 2015. At the time, Bad Puppy was about a year and half old, similar in age to Rookie. Occasionally, Bad Puppy would come to work with her mom and usually stayed in a crate by her mom’s desk during appointment hours. Sometimes, I would also bring Rook and Flint to work, and they would just be free in our doctors’ office. One day, my colleague called over to me in the other building to ask if Bryden could play with my dogs.
I can’t say that Flinty had a particularly strong attachment to Bad Puppy, but Rookie really enjoyed her company. Something to know about Rook is that he can be a bit socially awkward with other dogs, and he isn’t always well-received by them. He’s often reactive on leash, especially if he just sees another dog but isn’t allowed to approach them. Off-leash, he may come on a little strong at times, especially with the butt-sniffing. He has a few dogs that he’s met throughout his life that I would say are in his “inner circle,” that he has a special affection for. I know these dogs because he will nibble them on their heads and necks, and for whatever reason, these dogs usually tolerate this strange behavior of his. Bryden was one of those dogs.
At some point in our time working together, my colleague added a wire-haired pointer, Spencer, to her group of dogs. Spencer was also about the same age as Bryden and Rook, and she regularly came to work because she could be destructive when left alone at home (chewing on tables and the like). The four of them- Flint, Rook, Bryden and Spencer- all got on very well, and eventually we’d just leave them all out in the office to their own devices all day long. (Our office is basically one big, open room on the second floor of one of our buildings, so they had a decent amount of space to run and rough house.) We called it “the unsupervised doggie daycare.” Sometimes, one of our tech’s lab (Maya) or another of our tech’s little terrier mix (Olive) would join for part of lunch. Sometimes one or more of Bryden and Spencer’s other housemates would also be around. It was a bit chaotic, but usually brought smiles to our faces, especially on a rough day.
After Flint died, I brought Rook to work with me pretty much every day for a while, and my colleague almost always had Spencer +/- Bryden with her. I can’t ask Rookie how he felt during that time, but he was pretty attached to Flint, so I at least felt better knowing that he had his work buddies to play with and snuggle with several times a week still. In June of 2019, my colleague moved back to her home state of Michigan. Justin and I visited her there later that summer on our way to the Upper Peninsula for vacation, and that was the last time that I saw Bad Puppy.
Bad Puppy started having some esophageal trouble about a year ago and suffered several bouts of aspiration pneumonia. Right after the holidays, she had the worst round of it yet and ended up developing Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome where she couldn’t breathe because she was collecting fluid in her lungs. My colleague had to make the hardest decision for Bad Puppy and let her go. Bad Puppy would have been 8 next month.
I know that my colleague misses her terribly every single day. She brought Bad Puppy home after losing her heart dog in 2014, and Bryden was there for her through some trying times. Not to mention, no one expects to say, “Good-bye,” to their dog when they’re only 7 (unless maybe you have a Great Dane or a Bernese Mountain Dog). When I heard that she had euthanized Bryden, my heart broke for her. It also made me a little paranoid about my time with my own dogs (or really anyone I care about). It was a reminder that life can be shorter than you expect, that no single day is guaranteed with your loved ones.
Although her time was far too short, I can say with certainty that Bad Puppy had a wonderful life. She was an incredibly loved dog with plenty of friends (human, canine and others), all of the comfortable sleeping spots, many towels, blankets and arms to retrieve, walks, runs and swims runs galore and a plethora of tasty treats. She has many who miss her here on Earth and quite a few that were waiting to meet her at the Rainbow Bridge. RIP Bryden. I am forever grateful that you were Rookie’s friend when he needed one, and you were a pleasure to share an office with (except maybe when I couldn’t get to my desk because my arm was in your mouth).
“No one can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog.” ~ Gene Hill
