Hi Fredericka! We spoke this
morning about the loss of our beloved Chewy. My wife and I
sincerely appreciate you making a puppy available to us.
Although I cried like a baby when I repeated your comment about a
new puppy not replacing Chewy in our hearts, but taking a place
right beside him and helping us deal with his loss, my wife Chelle,
daughter Ashley and son Bobby all cried as well. Thank you very
much. Chewy’s story is below.
When we bought Chewy,
our American Mastiff, we lived right here in this same
subdivision. All of our neighbors cried when they heard about
Chewy's passing.
The photo attached was Chewy at age four years. He was almost
eleven years old when he crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.
Even though his muzzle turned
white at 7, I sincerely believe he remained in his prime until
Thursday, April 12, 2007 when his health declined rapidly,
resulting in his passing yesterday, April 16. He was a very
athletic dog who would run himself into the ground playing with
me. I was with him all day yesterday, laying on the floor with
him to make sure the IV flowed properly. Even though he was
extremely sick, he gave me wet kisses every five minutes or so.
Right before they put him under anesthesia , he gave me a big,
long wet kiss, almost like he knew something was going to
happen. I started crying uncontrollable. When it was time to put
him to sleep, the four of us were there with him. When we started
rubbing his ears, which he loved, he started snoring like he
always did. He passed painlessly. I know we will all see him
again when we pass.
My older brother and I picked
Chewy (Chelle’s Little Wookie Chewbacca) up at your place in July
1996. He was six weeks old, the son of Jake and Cassie(?) or
Sandy. My brother and I still laugh because when his mom stood
up, Chewy was the last puppy to let go of a teat. Chewy arrived
in Bloomington to great fanfare that day. His human sister Ashley
(12 at the time) and brother Bobby (9 at the time) were especially
elated. We crated trained Chewy and his canine brother Cort (a
Shepard Malamute mix) for house training. Chewy cried so much his
first night (even though the crate was in our room) that Chelle
put him in bed with us. Chewy slept with my wife and I for the
next 10 years and nine months. I cannot count the time he
pushed my wife out of bed trying to snuggle with me. When we
bought a new bed the frame collapsed after a month when Chewy
decided to lay his head on Dad’s chest to sleep. We reinforced
our new frame with two by fours to hold the additional weight. As
much as we loved him, he returned that love a billion fold with
his unconditional love for his family. It was on holidays that
Chewy was at his happiest because everyone was home the whole
day. We miss his wagging “happy tail” that was always going 100
miles an hour. He had many nicknames, Choo Choo, Choo Choo Bear,
Whewy (due to the look on his face after exercising) and the
Mighty Chewbacca.
Chewy and Cort (11 mos. Old when
we got Chewy) were a pair. In the photo above Cort was at his
prime, weighing 65 pounds. Cort mothered Chewy his whole life,
cleaning him and letting him take his treats. I have so many
stories about those two. When Chewy was six months he and Cort
ate my wife’s new couch. When I stood at the top of the steps
they were sitting in a pile of cushion foam looking as proud and
happy as can be. When Chewy was 18 months he hit his top weight
of 165 pounds, all of it muscle despite how much he ate. I
believe it was due to all of the walking and hiking we did. Chewy
loved running with me on the hiking trails and meadows around Lake
Evergreen. He would get delusions of grandeur chasing deer and
rabbits. He always came back proud and I would tell that next
time he would catch them. His happy tail would move even faster
when I told him that. He was the hit at obedience school as well
due to his charming disposition. He was very smart and learned
quickly. But, when he has enough he just laid down and refused to
move! It was hilarious. It took a hamburger to get him to run
through the agility tunnel, but he did it and graduated with
honors. Chewy in particular loved nothing better then cuddling
on the bed or couch with me and my wife. Chewy weighed 165 pounds
until February 2007, when he started losing weight. Even with the
weight loss he was very active until April 12.
When Chewy was two he and Cort
were running through the house jumping on and off our water bed.
As you can imagine, they ended up busting it, but they sincerely
tried to help clean it up. . He really enjoyed swimming with us
in Big Wheeling Creek.
In December 2006 my daughter
took him to a photographer and had pictures made of him kissing
Santa Claus (Santa had a treat in his mouth). Although I cried
hard after our phone call this morning, that picture sitting on my
desk reminded me of the love and happiness Chewy brought into our
lives.
All of us miss him and are still
crying today. It is especially hard on me because I took Chewy
with me wherever I could, and he followed me everywhere. When I
got up to exercise this morning I felt a huge hole with him not
there. While I exercised he constantly gave me big wet kisses.
When I came home from work he was always standing in the window
waiting on me. I would try to bring a treat home in my lunch
bucket every day for Chewy and Cort. Chewy especially loved it.
His happy tail could have knocked a steel door whenever I came
home from work. He even has to go to the bathroom with me when I
showered! Cort misses him as well. Cort would always eat half of
a milk bone and keep the other half between his legs teasing
Chewy, and then Cort would give it to him. Today, he took the
bone ate half, looked around waiting for Chewy for three minutes
before he gave up and went upstairs to bed.
As you can see, Chewy has a
profoundly positive impact on our family. His unconditional love,
humor, happy personality, and his ability to make us happy when we
were down are hopelessly missed, even though he has only been gone
a little over 24 hours. We take comfort in knowing that he knew
we loved him more than anything, and that he lived a happy and
full life. We know he knew all four of us were with him when he
passed.
We placed Chewy in the meadow in
Spring time because Chewy loved running in the fields at Lake
Evergreen. He will always be in our hearts;
Robert H and family