Destiny - to the end.

The facts:

For the last  2-3 weeks I've been training this little puppy (Indira).  8 weeks old. Her father is a police dog and her grandfather a Belgian World Champion Dog.

Her owner is my future brother-in-law.

I believe that puppies should be set out on the right foot, and so I spent a week or two imprinting various things.  Imprinting is a form of training that some trainers do when the dog is at a very early age - which effectively sticks certain good behaviours into a dog. i.e. at 2 months, the puppy learns what is expected of her, and what she needs to do to get what she needs.  In essence, she learns how to communicate with me and live in 'my world'.  She therefore sees ME as her mother, her provider and her world.

The joy:

This puppy is something else. Imagine the most playful dog, the smartest dog, the most loving dog, the bravest dog, the stupidest dog, the funniest dog and the dog that just makes you say 'ah, do whatever you want!'.... roll it all up in a little furball and give it 4 legs...

Yesterday:

After leaving her with my brother-in-law for 4 days everything was great. She goes outside by herself to relieve herself, wipes her bum herself, chews on sticks, digs up the pink flowers and occasionally jumps into the neighbours car to annoy them... perfect dog. Fearless.

So we get a call at 8:30am in the morning and he says that his wife is having trouble walking the dog, can we come back and help? Of course we can. (I was in London, about 2 hours drive from him). 

We (my fiance and I) say we will come see him at around midnight... We were quite excited to see them, as this was the first time we had left them alone with the dog.  So we really didn't know what to expect... maybe the house had been chewed up by the puppy or the puppy was pulling them down the street...

As we walk in the front door, the house is quiet - as it should be, in the evening.  The house is in good shape, clean, and dog toys are scattered along the floor. 

My brother-in-law walk down the stairs, slowly - I say hi, but his eyes are 'puffed up' like he didn't get much sleep.... I DID tell him to wake up early to take the dog out, and on the first day he DID wake up at 6am(!) [amazing for someone who gets up at 11am!].... but I didn't think it would be THAT much hard work or lack of sleep for him.... besides, he keeps saying that Tai Chi Masters don't sleep... and it is good for his training that he doesn't sleep...

Anyway. I notice his puffy eyes, but I think nothing of it.  My fiance walks in behind me, and he starts telling us how he was taking the dog out this morning.  And, as he describes the day, my fiance, listening to her brother, her face turns a red and her mouth drops a sad curl.  She starts to cry... a sad cry. A cry that should not be seen more than a few times in a person's life. A cry that begins before the tears fill the eyes, and a cry that makes sadness real.... For some, it begins as a beating in the heart and rushes up through the throat and to the head.

Without finishing his sentence, her brother's face becomes a painful red, and he covers his eyes as he trembles in the feelings of his loss. 

He always said to us, he could never be attached to a dog. He said before, he couldn't understand why people loved dogs so much.  But when you lose a family member, there is nothing left to replace.

A video of my own puppy that passed away earlier this year. Also, only a few months old. (notice the video towards the end...)

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vWDxgGZXUs

...yes, she pee'd in the living room - that's why the camera goes down... :) So Cute! Sit, Down, Crawl!