Sunday morning Louis passed away, he was a little over 10 years old. I'd let him out in the backyard as usual, he scratched his back on the bushes like he always does and came back inside. A few minutes later Chad watched him lay out on the floor, give a big stretch and he passed away. Chad was by his side which is fitting because Chad loved that dog more than anyone. After lots of tears we said goodbye to Louis. Chad and Blake were (are) devastated, I am surprisingly sad and Lauren couldn't wait to go to the animal hospital.
Throughout the day we talked about Louis and I told the kids to try and think about the good times we had with him. Hilarious. Good times? When Louis was a puppy Chad and I took him to a highly regarded dog trainer in Ballard, nothing but the best for our little pup. We showed up to puppy class, two shiny newlyweds that couldn't wait to show off our adorable dog (Louis was a really cute puppy). We were a little devastated when the dog trainer told us (in front of the class) that our dog was a "bully". We were so sure she was wrong. I don't think Louis was actually kicked out of the class (unlike the kennels and doggie daycares that would later give him the boot) but we stopped going shortly after that. When Blake was born I was sure Louis was going to try and eat Blake. The king had been dethroned and he clearly didn't like it. Chad refused to give Louis away so we sent him to one of the best dog trainers in the nation. Mark trained famous people's dogs....and Louis. After two weeks with Mark he said he needed two more weeks. When the month was up Chad and I had to go and learn how to implement the new training regimen. After standing around the in the freezing cold trying to learn how to properly give my dog commands, Mark said to me "Louis is sexist and will most likely always obey Chad more than you". Great.
After moving to Lakemont we became great friends with our neighbors. On more than one occasion while playing in our backyard, Louis humped the medically fragile boy who lives next door. I could have died. Thank you Bertsch kids for calling them "leg hugs", you guys are the best. There have been countless broken pickets in our fence and there was the time he dismantled our garage so badly somehow the paint cans came open and there are still doggie footprints everywhere. I could probably fill a book with stories about Louis but at the end of the day we still loved him. It was good to shake up our golden retriever/labradoodle filled neighborhood with our cranky bully from the mean streets of Alabama. Sleep well sweet Lou, we hope you are up chasing tennis balls in the sky.
