Teddy

Last week Teddy, our beloved family dog for the last 17 1/2 years, died. It was very sad, but his health had been declining pretty quickly these last few months, so it was not completely un-expected. But, it was still very hard.

We got Teddy in November of 1992. My parents didn't want to tell us they were thinking about getting a dog- in case it didn't work out- so one weekend in November while we were away (I was at a youth retreat- not sure where my sister was)- they went to look at a red toy poodle they had seen in the paper. He was the only one left in his litter. They fell in love and brought him home. When I got home that weekend from my retreat- we had a little dog in an enormous box in the kitchen!!

We had him for a few days before deciding on a name- Teddy. Because he looked like a Teddy Bear. And he did. I've had this photo of him, just a few weeks after we got him, framed since I was in high school. All through college and my adult life I've had people question me, "why do you have a framed photo of a stuffed animal?" I have to explain to them he's a real dog!

He was a precious dog from the start- always wanted to sit with you- was a great lap dog. We never fed him "people food" so he never begged at the table. For the first, probably 10, years of his life, while we ate dinner he would curl up on the arm of the sofa in the family room- it was warm there under the light and he could watch us eat from the next room if he wanted to.

We loved playing with him, taking him for walks, and teasing him- he was always good-natured. In fact, the only time he'd really ever snap at you was if he was on your lap and you told him to get down. He'd usually growl and bark, and then get down anyway.

It was fun to have a little fluffy dog around- he was always so cute. I never thought I liked poodles- but now I am sold on them. when we'd have him out places people would often ask what kind of dog he was- because he wasn't super "poodley" looking.

This is Teddy one Christmas @ my grandparents- he always came to family holidays.

We will all miss Teddy a lot. I mean, what 12 year old expects to have their dog until they're almost 30?? I haven't been to my parents' house since he's been gone- mostly because I've been snowed in at my house, but I think it will be hard to go there and to not see him. For 17+ years the first thing you did when you walked into their house was find the dog. In fact, we only lived in that house for about 4 months before we got him- so he's as much a part of that house as anything else there has been.

I always enjoyed posing him places for photos- here he is in my teen-age bedroom.

There are hundreds of photos and stories everyone in our family has about Teddy, and they'll remind us of all the good times. As my dad reminded me this week, grief is the price that we pay for love, and we got a lot of love from Teddy.

Teddy in the sun (which he loved) about 2 weeks before he turned 16.