CHARLIE BROWN EYE

My dog died yesterday. His name was Charlie Brown Eye. He was a “somma” dog – a mixed breed of “somma” this and “somma” that. And he had one bright, baby blue eye that made him look kind of loopy when you looked at him straight on. Charlie had suffered from epileptic seizures for over a year now. Saturday he suffered his last one and was unable to recover from it so we had to put him down to ease his suffering. I’ve been crying for days knowing that Charlie and I had come to the end of our journey together.

There are folks who don’t understand my attachment to my pets. For them an animal is just that, an animal. For me, I have yet to meet an animal that I didn’t like. I have met quite a few humans that I can’t stand. I loved Charlie. He was our second dog. We lost our first, a rottweiler named Jaxx, last year on July 19th, 2005. The vet believed Jaxx had been bitten by a snake. He was vibrant and full of life one day, and just a semblance of his self the next. A day later he simply laid down and went quietly off to sleep.

Little Miss Muffin is the last of the trio left. She’s a feisty, cream-colored Chow, absolutely beautiful with a queenly demeanor and she’s mean as spit. Folks think she’s the cutest, sweetest thing until she bares those teeth of hers, growls, and then snaps. She stops being cute then. She has ruled this roost for three years now, every one of us succumbing to Miss Muffin’s wishes. Even my brute of a husband hasn’t been able to escape the magnitude of her charms and the other dogs had just allowed her to sweep in and take full control.

My baby girl hasn’t left my side since we wished Charlie goodbye. Right now she’s curled up under my desk, her head resting against my feet. We both miss our big boys. It won’t be the same with the two of them now gone.