In Memorium: Brutus (2001-2008)

Yes, we have lost an important member of our family. Our dog, Brutus, died yesterday.

Brutus was the grandson of our first family dog, Sarge. We got Sarge back in 1994, and she had her first (and only) litter of puppies in 1998. In that litter, the only female was Curly Sue. Curly Sue had her first litter of puppies in 2000, and at the beginning of 2001 she had her second--and last--litter....the one with Brutus.

Brutus was my aunt's dog for two years. When she came to live with us for a while, she brought Brutus, and he went from an inside dog to an outside dog. When she left, even though it broke her heart, she left Brutus with us because he so loved being an outside dog and he and his uncle, Spyke, had grown close while he was here. So, in 2003 Brutus became our dog.

He was such a lovey dog. He loved nothing more than getting attention, and he would get very angry at you if you walked into the basement without at least saying hi. Brutus was so very full of life, and he certainly had a personality of his own. Just the other day I when I was watering him I hosed him down (his fur was so thick that I tried to hose him down when I watered him to cool him off) and because he hated getting hosed down, he decided to share. He promptly took two steps away from me, and shook all the water off--right onto me! Brutus had a very bubbly personality. He loved to play and goof around, but he was a great watch dog, too, and protected us with all his heart.

Brutus was only 7 when he died. His grandmother died at 9 years old and his mother died at 3, so he lived about as long as could be expected, I suppose. I was the one that found him when I went out to take care of him in the morning. As far as we can tell, he just died of old age. It looked just like he went to sleep and passed away (he was even in the same position that he got in to sleep when I found him).

He will be sorely missed.