Bauer and Me

 

It was July of 2005, Steph and I thought it was time to add-on to our family. The four-legged kind of addition.

Now, how do we pick a puppy? They are all so fun to watch, so playful, so energetic. There was one puppy with paws so big it looked like it was wearing clown shoes. He hopped, and staggered, and tripped his way over to us. He was bouncing for attention, but was still a little uncoordinated with those massive paws of his. Plus, he wasn’t crying for attention like the rest, he was just happy to be with new people. Katelyn picked him right up. We took him home that afternoon.

That was our first day with Bauer.

He adjusted to us, and our home. We soon had more dog treats, bones, and dog jerky then human food in the house. We did learn that Bauer’s greatest asset, his love of people, was also his biggest flaw. See, while he was a puppy and being housetrained we put him in his large crate at bedtime. But since he was so small he didn’t know where we were, even though we were right there in the same room, just up on the bed. So he cried. He would cry all night, or at least until I moved down to the floor and would lie outside his crate. It took a few days, maybe a week, of sleeping on the floor so he knew no one left him, but he soon got it and would sleep through the night.

Not long after that he was house trained and could sleep outside his crate, wherever he wanted. Turns out he wanted to sleep right next to the bed. You know, close enough that when I’d get up, half asleep, I’d usually trip right over him. But Bauer didn’t mind. He just wanted to be as close as possible.

Sometimes as close as possible meant right on your lap. Which was fine as a puppy under 10 pounds. Problem was Bauer didn’t realize that as he grew to a very beefy 90 pounds, laying on your lap wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

And when we thought Bauer needed a friend, we brought home Sierra from the Boxer Rescue Foundation. She was half his size and full of attitude, but Bauer, as always, just went with the flow of life. While Sierra bounced around and barked at anything, Bauer was calm. He enjoyed looking out the front window, chasing a tennis ball (but never picking it up and bringing it back) and laying on the floor letting the warm sun relax him.

A couple years later, we added-on to the family again, this time with the human variety. Ellie was born, and she quickly took to Bauer. And by took, I mean used him as her own personal jungle gym. She’d climb over him while he slept. She pulled his big, floppy ears, she was amused by his nub of a tail, and Bauer soon had someone else to lay on the floor with and take a nap.

Bauer was an athletic freak. He was so fast. He’d routinely outrun the other dogs at the dog park. You could hear Bauer run. He would push off his hind legs so hard that he’d leave divots where his feet started.

He loved the dog park, he loved taking walks, I even think he enjoyed going to the snow. He wouldn’t walk through the snow, he’d bounce through it as if he was on springs.

But most of all he loved people. He never wanted to be alone. Even if he was curled up in a ball, covered with a blanket, all nice and cozy, if he realized you’d left the room, he would get up to find you.

He was there when you watched TV. He was in the bedroom when you slept, and most of all, he was next to you, nudging your arm, when you ate. He was so tall he could put his head under your elbow while you ate –  just to remind you he was there if there was anything extra.

When we brought Lukas home, Bauer was once again a jungle gym, but not only when he was lying down. See, Lukas thought Bauer was a horse and would sit on his back and bounce up and down like a cowboy. All the while Bauer would just lie there with his big brown eyes, halfway enjoying the attention, halfway wandering when this little person would give him some time to sleep.

Somewhere along the line Bauer wasn’t happy just sleeping on the floor next to the bed, he wanted to be on the bed. And the evolution began. From sleeping at the very end of the bed, near my feet, to right next to me, sometimes pushing me nearly off the bed, but certainly out of the covers.

Even in his old age, Bauer was always the first to greet me at the door. At nearly any time of the day, if you walked by the house you could see his head peeking between the blinds, waiting for anyone to come visit him. He never wanted to be in a room alone, and he always wanted to take a ride in the car.

He was a puppy with giant paws and a young dog as fast as any. He was a jungle gym, a horse and even a giant pillow. He was friendly and even though his tail was cut a little too short, that didn’t stop him from wiggling his butt at warp-speed when you entered the house. He was a companion. A walking buddy. A friend. He was our first family addition.

Bauer passed away this morning.

Over the past few months cancer had taken over his body, and the arthritis in his spine, knees and hips had made even standing up a challenge. The two stairs to the backyard that he’d soar over in his days as a puppy were nearly too challenging to go up. He spent most of his final days sleeping, and while he was rarely able to greet me at the door, he would still raise his head and wiggle his nub of a tail from wherever he was laying.

There is simply no replacing a friend, 2-legged or 4, that has meant so much for so long. Buddy Bauer will be painfully missed, but more than that, he’ll always be lovingly remembered.