Woof! Woof!

It's already Wednesday ... my last note ... upbeat ... littlest grand-spawn charmer wading into the salty waters perched on Grandpa's shoulders .... the different charm of a kid who has to pee in the back seat of a car in a downpour with no toilet in sight .... Father's day gone ... and GuntherDog Playing his Last Quarter tricks.

Oh! GuntherDog. You're still ambivalent about me ... We rescued you/You rescued us 9 years ago and are still a Mama's boy. The twins were maybe 6 months old then. Their delivery had brought cardiac complications for their Mom ... their older Sister who graduated Middle School just two nights ago was 5 years old and doing the "dog begging thing" that her Mom had done with one of our previous pups ... Shayna Rosa the Wonda Dog. It had been 4 years since Shayna died and it had reduced to every now and then that I had the pleasant delusion that she'd be there to greet me when I unlocked the front door. We relented and Gunther moved on in.

Shayna was one of those special dogs ... not by her breeding, mind you ... her heraldry and her pedigree were undistinguished ... a Shepherd and a Collie? or was it a Collie and a Shepherd coupling in some yard or behind some garage ... no record of her ancestors. Our Bernards were different. They came with records of begats ... and Danny Regensberg begat Carmen of the Doobies ... and Carmen begat .... No. No! That wasn't what made Shayna Rosa special. Shayna had a love for all God's creatures. When our last Bernard came as an 11 week old pup as a gift for our daughter's coming of age 13th birthday, Shayna -- maybe 4 years old -- immediately took on the role of Mom. She cleaned her and taught her how to run under the half gate in great circles and figure eights. When the Bernard developed seizures, Shayna would sit with her until she regained 'reverse' .... the poor pup would walk into a corner and not remember -- momentarily -- how to back out. Mitzie was, one might say, precociously old at moments like that. I didn't appreciate memory loss then the way I do, now. When Mitzie had a final seizure and died on a Thanksgiving night 27 years ago, Shayna Rosa guarded her and refused -- without taking a piece out of my leg -- to allow me to carry her off.

Then, there was Muncasz the Hungary Cat who showed up at the back door looking for a handout. We already had Matyos who was, actually, Hungarian, not just hungry ... who our eldest brought back from his living in Central Europe. Matyos had problems with another cat coming into his domain (Matyos was one of the Hungarian Kings of Yore) and Muncasz took refuge on the third floor.

Shayna Rose knew exactly what to do. She started sitting at the bottom of the stairs and, day be day, edged her way up the stairs ... approximating visits. Then, for a week or so, she'd sit at the top of the stairs, until, at last, Muncasz and she proudly walked down the stairs. Matyos still hated the new cat. He'd look out the window, see an alien cat, and blame its presence on Muncacz ... pouncing on him and catterwalling, as he did. As Muncacz and Shayna Rosa aged, they'd do their duets. Muncasz walking on the keys to the piano and Shayna howling melodically. Shayna stopped singing for a complete year after Mitzie's death .... Muncasz would do his piano key walk ... Shayna would sit nearby silently.

Poor Gunther. What chance did he have to compete with the Great and Loving Shayna Rosa the Wonda Dog. I prefer not to recommend reading to any other creature but if you haven't had the chance to read Eugene O'Neill's Last Will and Testament that he wrote for his pooch Silverdene Emblem O'Neill, I do recommend it.

So, back to you, Anonymous ... While you may aspire to be reincarnated as a dog, I suspect it takes many such rebirths to arise to the level of a Great Dog ... those dog-shaped (and cat-shaped) dignitaries who shared their loving and dignity with us in the First Three Quarters of Life ... and beyondare impossible acts for us mere mortals to follow ... those Kings and Queens who now live with us as ghosts.

Sorry, Gunther, you are doin' a good job, yourself! Couple more incarnations .... it's comin'.