T
he most heroic dog in the world recently died. On December 12, 2009 Gandalf Osiris Pogue, a thirteen-year-old brown lab, died in his home with his family of people-- Mom, Dad, and uncle, his Chihuahua brother, and his Dachshund sister. In the wonderful movie “The Bucket List,” there were two questions that had to be answered to get into heaven: Have you found joy in your life? Has your life given joy to others?
For Gandalf, or, as his Mom liked to call him, “Man Dog,” both question are a resounding yes, and this perfect dog is undoubtedly in dog heaven. Oh, how he gave joy! When his sister Dachshund joined the family, she immediately adopted his back to drape herself over. He never tried to get up when she was there--for eight years he let her have his back, as well as his lips, since she preferred his “sugar” to drinking out of a bowl!
For the first two years of his life, he never uttered a sound. Suddenly one day his family heard one deep “Gruff,” and ran to see what was going on. He had barked at a hawk—one bark and no more. That continued the rest of his life—one bark whenever a big bird or plane flew over. He had no problem with small birds, or any other animal. He seemed to be protecting his small brother and sister from the predatory birds.
Once his family heard a locust and could not figure out where it was. They looked everywhere, as the sound was very loud and non-stop. His human father finally zeroed in on Gandalf’s big, innocent eyes, and noticed he was standing perfectly still. His ‘dad’ opened his mouth and out came a delighted locust who must have thought his days were over, but he was intact!
Gandalf was a blood donor. He lived down the street from the vet clinic where his human brother, Daniel, worked while in high school. Man Dog was willingly and heroically on call any time another dog needed blood. He never complained or resisted; he knew his calling. He gave joy to many people whose precious dogs were saved by his blood.
So many stories. Never will there be human or animal to affect our family, each and every one from Grandmother to grandchild, like this dog did. He was a hero!
