RIP Scout

Here's the post that I've been dreading--the one about Scout's last weekend alive. Thank goodness it was a fun weekend filled with dog-friendly activities. That Saturday, May 3rd, Tomkin and I took Scout and Chloe to the Humane Society Walk for Animals around Como Park. It was a gorgeous day, and the dogs enjoyed a nice, long stroll with hundreds of other dogs around. That Sunday, May 4, we took the dogs to a nearby park and let them run around to blow off some steam. Then we met up with Cassidy and Angie and their dachshund, Fergie, for Dog Days at the St. Paul Saints baseball game. We started out by getting some food, which the dogs really liked, and then we headed into the bleachers. The dogs were a little more ambivalent about that, but they did okay. Scout spent most of the afternoon watching kids running around, playing.On Monday, May 5, Scout acted as normal as usual--we had no indication that anything was out of the ordinary. I left about 6:30 that evening to meet Jill for dinner at Buca di Beppo, and Tomkin left at 7:00 to see Iron Man. I got home about 9:30 and found Scout dead in his crate. It was incredibly shocking, to say the least. Tomkin got home a few minutes after I did. That night we slept on the futon so that Chloe could sleep with us. The next day we brought Scout to the vet to have him cremated. It was so strange to suddenly not have him around anymore--there was definitely a huge hole in our lives where he used to be.At first I thought we would want to get another dog right away because Chloe would be lonely and freaked out, but she has actually thrived as an only dog. She's more relaxed--no competition for food or attention anymore (except when Watson comes to visit), and we've realized what an incredibly sweet and well-behaved dog she really is. So for the time-being, we're going to stick with one dog, but eventually I would like to get another one. That Wednesday after Scout died, we brought Chloe along to Tomkin's parents' house when we went there for lunch, and then we walked through the Walker Sculpture Gardens. It was nice, though it was hard not to think of Scout and how much he would have enjoyed that, too.
We got Scout's ashes back on May 20 and took them to the dog park, where we had a little ceremony on "Scout's Ridge," as we've come to call the hill where he liked to run. Then we buried his remaining ashes in our backyard.I got Scout as a puppy from a breeder named Barbara Sawyer-Brown in Chicago. Right off the bat, he had a mischievous spark, and we loved him for it. He was brave and adventurous and always up for trying something new. And he didn't have a shy bone in his body--he always enjoyed meeting people and getting attention from them. He definitely had his naughty side, especially when it came to food, but he was sweet and loving and cuddly and fun and a wonderful companion. When I lived alone in Chicago, Scout and Chloe were great company for me, and I felt very safe having them around. We miss Scout a lot and wish he could have lived longer than 8-1/2 years, but I'll always be thankful for the time I got to spend with him. He was really a special and amazing dog.