Sir Tucker Reb Tobias 1997-2010

He was dog #2 for our family (my mom, dad, brother and I). We got him 12 years ago when I was 16. It was June-ish. Buster, dog #1, was 7. We thought he might like a playmate. We saw the ad in the paper that there were springer spaniels ready for adoption just a few miles from our house. So the three of us (mom, bro, and I) begged Dad to go look at them. After hemming and hawing something about dog food being expensive and blah blah blah, he finally agreed.

I love picking out puppies. The litter surrounds your feet and every single puppy begs you to adopt them. But you connect with just one. On our 5 minute car ride home, the puppy that chose us nestled in and dozed off. We talked about what to name him. I suggested Tucker. It seemed to fit because he was "tuckered out." His AKC registered name was Sir Tucker Reb Tobias. Tucker had many nicknames. Tuck, Tucky, Tuck-Tuck, and I also called him Tucker Two Shoes or T.T.

As he grew, we found that Tucker wasn't shaped like Buster. Tucker was "round like a barrel" as my dad would say. He had short legs and his body was...just...well, it was round like a barrel. He had a big head and a big heart. Even though his legs were short, he could still run fast. Somehow.

Turns out, Buster didn't want a playmate. In fact, Buster hardly wanted anything to do with Tucker at all. He was a grump from the moment he realized that Tucker was staying. Buster was a roamer. He was always walking around the neighborhood (my parents live in the outskirts of town where dogs can roam a little more). I don't think Tucker ever left the yard. He was a homebody.

Tucker knew some tricks. "Show me your nuts!" and he'd roll over onto his back (I did not teach him that trick). He knew how to get the paper from the mailbox. When you were in a hurry to leave the house, you would find that one or both of your shoes were not at the door. Tucker took them and scattered them around the house. But if you showed him the one you wanted, he knew exactly where it was, and he would bring it to you.
Tucker sired a litter of pups a few years ago. They were the cutest puppies, and one of them looked so similar to Tuck that the "breeders" named him Tucker Jr. I'm not sure if he got adopted by someone else and if that name stuck or not.

He was always nudging you to pet him. If you didn't pet him, he'd nudge you until you did. He greeted you at the door with an invitation for you to scratch his belly. He could snore as loud as my dad. He was gentle and sweet.

He was a bit jealous of Rocket at first, but once he knew Rocket was just a visitor and he'd soon be gone, they got along just fine.
Tucker's health had been deteriorating for awhile. He had kidney failure and had been on medication for about a month. He drank water all the time and lost a lot of hair. My mom thinks he was probably diabetic. We saw him at Thanksgiving, in mid-December, and also at Christmas. Each time we saw him, he was skinnier and skinnier. He was still round like a barrel, but his hips were noticeably thinner. He had horrible cataracts. He had a hard time getting up and down stairs. At Christmas, my parents were hoping he'd make it to the spring, and then they'd put him down.

But he didn't last that long. About a week ago, he started to refuse to eat or drink anything. He had a hard time breathing. He looked sad. It was time. My parents took him to the vet and had him put to sleep. If you've ever seen Marley and Me, you know the scene I'm talking about. I can't imagine living that scene. Knowing you need to be there for your friend, but also knowing it's the end. He's being cremated and will be buried next to Buster at the family farm. I'm sure Buster is real excited about that.

My mom called me on Monday to tell me the news. Of course I was heartbroken because I wasn't expecting it. But who wants to see their pet suffering any more? There was never an angry-at-my-parents phase. I accepted it right away because I knew it had to be done. It will be sad not to see him at my parents' house any more, but we've got our Rocket Dog and my parents have their grandson to spoil now. :D

Now that you've got your spring back, go ahead and annoy Buster for a little while, Tuck. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I know all good dogs go to Heaven. I hope to see you up there some day (not that I'm not going to Heaven, of course. I just hope we get to reunite with our pets up there).