BEAR

Bear.

Bear came from a very small litter. In fact, he was the only one that I can remember from the litter. As with many of my dogs, his mother was Brownie. When he got old enough, he started coming to my house. He would always be there in the morning when I got up and went out for the newspaper. He would just wiggle and wiggle and then as I went down the steps he would get on his back and want me to rub him on his chest, still wiggling. I always tell him that he wiggled his way into my heart, which he did. He is a real special dog.

One of my memories of Danny is from when Bear was getting a little bigger. Danny came down to me house and we were talking about the dogs. Bear was getting to his full height but not his full weight. Not a big deal, but I do remember mentioning to Danny how much Bear had grown and how fast the puppies grew.

Another memory is that Danny would come to my house when he came home from work in the morning. I usually kept Bonz (a treat made by Purina) on hand and Danny would give each of the dogs a Bonz, but only after they would give him a kiss (lick). Bear was not much of a licker, but Danny could always get a kiss!!!

As he got near the end of his life, be became crippled in the hind legs and had trouble controlling his hind legs. Bear died one day in January, 1997, while I was at work. He had gotten to the point he could not get up; yet he never stopped trying. I could tell from the way he was when I found him that he was trying to get up when he died.

Bear's full brother, Boog-A-Loo lived to be only 12 years and about 11 months, so Bear got more years more out of life than his brother. I do not know whether it was the more relaxed atmosphere of the country or because I they are getting better food, but all of the dogs, except Bo, have lived longer. Actually, I think it is a combination of the two.