terrible smell. His right ear had a nasty, odorous infection. He also had a hypothyroid condition. Further testing months later would reveal a litany of items to which he was allergic, requiring periodic injections.

But what a personality! He was as sweet and mild as they come. In spite of a host of ailments, he remained a lovable character who in turn loved everyone he ever met (sometimes a little too much…God help you if you were prone…). Ready to snuggle at any opportunity, he was happy just to be at your side, but he was also very curious about the world and loved going for walks. One of his absolute favorite activities was playing chase with a laser pointer. He would yip happily, and as he ran after the little red light he’d bounce like a fawn. And what a lover of going for a ride in the car! It didn’t matter where; the ride was just the coolest thing! I had to try very hard to steel myself against the desire to adopt him permanently. There were already 2 dogs in the house, which wasn’t very big, and the thought of taking on a third, with all his conditions and potential medical costs, was daunting.

About 3 months after he arrived, word came that there was a family interested in adopting him, and he would likely go to their home on the weekend (which was 3 days away). The day before he was supposed to go, however, that family’s other dog had an accident and would require a fair amount of time for recuperation, and so they weren’t able to take Bogey at that time. A couple of days later, I was working at my computer, and Bogey was lying on the floor next to me, as he often liked to do. By this time of course he had gotten very attached to his housemates. I got a very Hollywood-esque vision in my head of him getting into someone else’s car and driving off, and his head popping up in the rear window, looking back with a “Wait…where am I going?!” look on his face. To be perfectly honest, he kind of always had that sort of look on his face, but that vision was enough to reduce me to tears, and made me realize that I couldn’t bear to part with him.

In the nearly 5 years that he’s been in my life, Bogey has been one of the best parts of it. His overall health improved greatly during that time, getting to something close to normalcy. Over the past year, though, his body began to betray him as his malfunctioning thyroid started to spawn other chronic health conditions. And then, a couple of months ago, his left rear foot developed a growth in the webbing of his middle toes that grew rapidly, became infected, and didn’t respond to medicine. The surgical option presented offered little comfort, as it was highly expensive, and he might have lost the leg entirely due to its lymph tissue being involved in the infection. He had lost a lot of weight during the past 12 months, and for his age and list of chronic health issues, to say nothing of the toll that recovering from an amputation would take on a little 9-1/2-year-old body, the best decision seemed clear, though no less bitter.

He was able to pass peacefully at home on January 28th in my lap with Jen at his side.

Though his health problems were such a big part of his life, especially at its end, they are NOT what will be remembered, because they certainly weren’t who or what he was, nor did they ever quench his spirit (what a lesson for us all). He was a great little guy who loved life and loved everyone in it, and we were damned lucky to have had him in our lives. Good-bye, but only for now, Boo-boo.