Sizzling Brain: A House Without a Dog

I have never lived in a house where a dog was not a part of the family. Old English Sheepdogs have been the mainstay since before I was born, although we have rescued a few mutts in the past. The sheepdogs were usually rescues as well. With every rescue comes the joys and challenges of discovering a new dog's quirks and mannerisms.

I remember the day my grandma and papa came home with Elmo, our most recent Old English Sheepdog. My mom had told my sister and I that grandma and papa had gone on a trip, but didn't divulge more information than that. I remember peering out the window that day, and seeing a big, white, fluffy dog prancing through the backyard. My heart skipped a beat as I put two and two together, realizing this big puffball was the newest member of our family.

Elmo was a very excitable dog. Just by walking up to him and jumping up and down a few times, he'd reciprocate the motion, jumping up and down right next to me. One of the most amazing things about Elmo is that we never trained him with an electric fence, but we always let him out to run free in the yard. He never ran away, and never even left my grandma's property. My grandma lives in a suburb, on the corner of one of the busiest streets in the neighborhood. Some people refer to it as the Elmwood Avenue Expressway. A sidewalk is the only barrier separating my grandma's yard from that busy street. Elmo never once crossed that threshold.

Elmo and I would sometimes play a game called "Legless Dog" where I would get on all fours and try to tap his paws as he stealthily dodged my blows. Eventually he would get smart and tuck his front paws completely under his body, so he looked like a legless dog. It was one of the cutest things I've seen him do.

Another silly game we'd play involved one of us girls tying our hair back in a scrunchy. We would lay on the ground, call Elmo over, and he would immediately start working to pull the scrunchy out. He was so gentle, never causing injury with his teeth, but he would nibble eagerly until he loosened the scrunchy enough to undo the ponytail.

Elmo never learned to play fetch, but he loved to catch snow. I could just take a handful, toss it up for him, and he would leap into the air and "catch" it with his teeth. He was also very graceful as he leapt and bound through the snow. He really seemed to love running through it. It is heartbreaking that he did not get a chance to enjoy the glories of snow this year. I will be thinking of him the first time I put on my snow suit to relish in the winter wonderland of my grandma's enormous front yard. Cancer took him from us suddenly. I was with him less than a week ago before travelling back to school, and he seemed to be his normal, cheerful self. I even played the hopping game with him. We will never know the pain he may have experienced in these last few weeks or months, but he was a very brave and loving boy until the very end.