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For Tweed, on his 13th Birthday

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Quiet brown dog on the rug
Sprawled across the floor
You can still hear; your eyes open
At the sound of the door
 
A big slug pink tongue
Traverses your nose
As you yawn, neck arched
Stretch out right to your toes
 
Grumbling, you roll over
Press your chest to the floor
Gather all your strength
Then find a little more
 
Like a truck in reverse
You back up – slipping your gears
Success!  You’re now sitting
You’ve half conquered your fears
 
Of being ever-stuck
In a position prone
On the dog rug on the floor
Left all alone
 
While the rest of us go out
Into the sunshining yard.
Never fear this, old dog
I’ll wait; I know it’s hard
 
For you to get your feet
In these, the twilight days.
Thirteen years (and counting!)
As long as you need me to
I’ll stay.
 
You throw your head forward
And give it your best
You strain.  You heave.  You struggle.
For a moment you rest.
 
Your eyes meet mine, for a second
I see confusion, pain, loss
Then irritation – you’re so angry!
Another head toss
 
And you hurl your chest forward
Almost pitched on your face
And you rock to all four feet
And balance in place
 
So gingerly, you test balance
Master of legs once more
Each step brings confidence
And you trot
(Full of yourself again)
Right out the front door
 
But when the day comes, and it’ll be hard
That you fail to rise
I’ll not wait for you, old dog, at the door
I’ll be right at your side
 
I’ll gather you in my arms
And lift you to your toes
And walk with you
We’ll go out together
No matter how slow
 
For more than a decade
You’ve been patient with me
For being so stupid, thick,
Human- ignorant and clumsy
 
Thirteen years we’ve had together
And, I pray, a few years more
We’ll have together
To shuffle as friends,
No matter how slowly
 
Out the front door.
 

 Happy Thirteenth Birthday Tweed!

He was two weeks old when I picked him, via scanned polaroid photo(!) from the internetz:

His mum was Tuffy, a little black and white cattle working border collie:

His dad was Bear, the strong silent type of Australian Shepherd:

 He was 5.5 weeks old when I brought him home.  He slept the whole way back from Washington in my lap, waking only to ask to pee once, and to eat three french fries and half my cheeseburger.

 

 He won over my grouchy dog Briggs, something no other dog had ever managed to do,

He was my first REAL agility dog, and while we struggled about power over the years, he was an enthusiastic and willing partner.  He taught me much.

When he was 12, he won the BC-Yukon Regionals for me, and promptly retired himself afterward :)

 Now he is 13 years old.  I cannot imagine life without him.

Here’s to many more Tweed.  You and me, kid – kicking ass and taking names :)

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Crying … I have a 13-1/2 year old here and this could have been written for her too.
    Wonderful tribute … Happy Birthday Tweed!!

  8. Beautiful! Made me cry too! My Golden boy will be thirteen in August.

  9. Happy birthday, Tweed! Lovely poem, FL. My 13-yo is now enjoying herself in nosework, sometimes at my expense. It is so hard to watch them slow down.

  13. You make me cry ….. I lost my boy Jester at13.5 years. THE dog who taught me all about DOGS …..may you live forever Tweed!

  14. Tears…so many tears. That was a beautiful tribute for a beautiful guy :)

    The very happiest of birthdays to you Tweed! You are loved by all of us (who are stalking you from the interwebz). All hail Tweed!

  17. Sniff. Dab, dab. Oh, Tweed, happiest birthday. I hope there was whip cream!

    My red boy will be 13 in July. Although now that we adopted a cute little rugrat of a 1 year old Havanese, he is in his second childhood. May he and Tweed live Forever!

  18. Happy birthday, Tweed! I’ve enjoyed reading about you for a few years now, and all the changes in your life and your pack. You have generously learned to share the Food Lady with others, you have mastered Agility, and you have shown the true wisdom of knowing your own heart’s desires.
    Claire at 14 knows the frustration of eyes and ears and hips that don’t work as they used to, yet she remains joyful about the pleasures of life. She is teaching us the importance of slow walks, thoughtful sniffs, a tasty morsel, and contemplation before action. Thanks for sharing with us, Food Lady.

  19. Happy Birthday, Tweed! Your Food Lady loves you and shares you with us. I spent the day yesterday with a friend’s 14 year old Aussie and his “I can I can I can . . .” attitude matches the lovely poem written about you. Have a wonderful year, Tweed!

  21. God, I’m reading your lovely lovely tribute and crying like hell and rereading and crying some more and I just can’t stop anymore…
    I know you never meant it that way – cause your Tweed wìll give you many more! – but this could perfectly fit as an in memoriam for my little brown one that I had to let go 3 months ago. “Already” 3 months but I still can’t talk about Robine, can’t watch any of her pictures, haven’t decided on her ashes yet but I’ve had to put the urn out of my sight. I haven’t even been able to post anything about her death on my blog, how scandalous is that eh? But I just can’t ever write anything good enough for her. I haven’t even been able to cry, except for her last minutes in my arms, until now…

    Dear Tweed, I hope you’ve had the finest 13th birthday a dog like you deserves (but no doubt there, since you live with the FL ;-) ) and here’s to many, many more. I’m sure that my now forever 10 year old Robine looks upon you smiling because she recognises so much of you in her and vice versa.

    And dear Foodlady, thank you so so so much for finally letting me start mourning my once in a lifetime little brown one. I miss you, oldie.

  22. Happy Birthday Tweed! We love you from down here in California. I’m crying right along with everyone else. The poem was so good and I’ve got a 13 year old boy too who is doing well, but I know he won’t last forever.
    I always love the picture of puppy Tweed and Briggs, your Red Dog was very tolerant of him :-)

  23. Happy, happy birthday Tweed!!! FL, the poem is awesome, it says it all……

  24. happy birthday Tweed and thank you for the many years of enjoyment you’ve given us as told to the Food Lady on her blog! Here’s to many more adventures to come!!

    And a wonderful tribute, like many others, I can apply to my own dogs as they age.

  25. Thanks Food Lady. You’ve said it so completely for me too as I watch my old pal Ace, aka The fishin’ dog get older. She’s 12 or 13, found starving and scared in a Holiday Inn parking lot in Elk City Oklahoma 11 years ago. My wife and daughter made me take her in…I didn’t know how lucky I was. She’s a black and white Border. Smart, loyal loving, but you know all that. Every day is wonderful…

  27. Happy belated birthday, Tweed and FoodLady! The two greatest posts you’ve made in this blog were both about Tweed. Both made me cry. What a gorgeous poem. That is the nicest gift one can think of, truly from the heart.

    Respect for Tweed, your late-blooming heart-dog, still so full of try. Lovely, lovely. Thank you for sharing Tweed and your heart with all of us. =:-)

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