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Rex was the best, most handsome dog ever. Today we are all devastated because we had to put Rex to sleep. His rear legs couldn’t hold him up any longer and try as I might, I couldn’t get him to move since Wednesday. He had a few good treats these past few days; cheesecake, provolone cheese, chicken pot pie and roast beef. All these treats made the medicine go down because the poor lamb was in pain at the end.
While we were with Rex we all started going down memory lane. The baby boy mentioned the time Rex ran past him, upended him and the concussion he got as a result of the run by, and the time he was walking Rex on a leash and was slammed into a tree because Rex got a whiff of something in the woods or the time Rex, while trying to save him in the water, almost drowned him. These stories were told, full of love and laughter, because Rex never really understood how seriously big he was, he often acted like a lap dog when he was younger. The baby girl has a scar or two from being dragged across the ice by an excited Rex. My hubby and I are the only ones who emerged from Rex’s circle unscathed, but we can’t say the same of the house.
If the house and furniture could speak, it would be complaining of two broken screen doors, two eaten ottomans, chewed up chairs, chewed up piano bench, chewed up staircase and the list goes on to include books and shoes. I had to bring Rex with me to school every morning, when I taught French there, to keep the rest of the house safe. However I never lingered in school for fear that he would be eating the car’s interior.
My best friend Debbie who worked for us for a long time and watched Rex and the other dogs when we weren’t home, had so many stories of Rex almost breaking her nose accidentally with his head or the stepping and crushing her toes with his huge paws and her knee being thrown out because of his huge head connecting with it. Bless Debbie with all those mishaps, she adored Rex just as much as he adored her. She raved over the fact that Rex adopted her beloved puppy Gizmo.
All of that behavior lasted only a few two or three years, other than that he was the best dog, gentle as can be. He lived to be with us, he absolutely adored the kids and he was the best babysitter in the world. He would never sleep on the job, he would herd them and never let them out of his sight. He was the same way with his canine friends, he was daddy to my best friend’s puppy, a mix of chihuahua and terrier, Rex loved his Gizmo and watched over him from the day he met the little puppy. Rex was equally protective of Jack and went after another German Shepard because he had the nerve to bark at his baby Jack.
Rex was amazing and we miss him so much it hurts. I think that I am still in shock because my ears are still straining for his footsteps. His footsteps were unmistakable, when he was younger and would run up or down the stairs the whole house would shake. The same when he was laying down, when he threw his head on the floor the room would shake. He had so much power and strength and didn’t even know it.
Our Rex, we loved him, he loved us and we all know that he is in a better place no longer in pain. He lives on in our hearts and in our memories.
laurieanichols 