Ode to Willie Dog

We had to say goodbye to our old friend, Willie a few weeks ago…he will be missed.

Willie was never a “looker”, and some thought he may have had an extra chromosome but he was always a very sweet dog. I remember picking him up 8 years ago, anticipating a cute little rescue dog to befriend Emma. We picked up a scrappy, dusty little ball of energy that barked and obsessively licked his paws and coveted his toys. He and Emma never really hit it off, but as long has he remembered that she was boss it worked. The first day home we realized that Willie was crated so much prior to us picking him up that his pads were smooth and after running around the yard with Emma he could barely walk, he was so stiff….we theorized that by his looks & stamina he may have been well past his 4 years….or just aged alot through his first few years. We worked hard on getting him acclimated to his new life and got some professional training when the babies arrived in our family. Willie became very tolerant of the kids and always loved being as close as possible to anyone who would give him some love. His last few years became more difficult for him to navigate as his eyesight became non-existant by the end but he never whined and perservered through the ever-changing maze of toys and “stuff” in our house. He loved his soccer balls in the yard and became adept at sniffing them out when he couldn’t see them in the yard. He was a always full of love and excited (maybe too much sometimes) about anyone’s arrival. Though his last few days he had pretty much checked out he never complained….he was always a scrappy little guy but certainly one of a kind. RIP Willie