My dawg, Huck

Huck (Huckleberry Finnegan) showed up Christmas morning, four years ago. As I sat outside, smoking a cigarette and having my coffee, I could hear a faint whimpering somewhere. There...down the street, some animal was crying. It was about 26 degrees at the time, I went inside and grabbed an old collar and leash and walked over there. I tried the leash and collar but the dog was so young, it didn't come along. I picked him up and carried him to the house. He was cold and shivering. I took pictures and posted them all over town. Lost dog. No one ever responded. The vet said he was about 8 weeks old. He was 8 pounds at the time. He would run right under Haley (Jack Russel). Later, Haley ran right under him.

Huck and I were attached from then on. He became my best (and only) friend.

When I took him for walks (he had a choke collar and one of those barbed collars) and when other people and/or dogs approached, I could only kneel down and hold on, Apparently I was not a good trainer but he always obeyed the "sit" command.

Anyway, since I don't go anywhere or do anything, Huck was always at my side. Really. He would never go outside if I was not there. He wouldn't even eat his food if I was not there. He nuzzled himself between my knees and was at home. He always was with me or within sight of me. If I got up from my chair on the deck, Huck was there. He slept under my desk with his head on my feet. If I walked across the yard, he was stuck on my knee.

Through the years I kept repeating, "I never wanted a dog...but if I did, it would be a REAL dog"

Well, I had a real dog and never understood.

Last Wednesday, Huck didn't eat his breakfast. He did finally eat it in the evening. I lay down next to him on the deck and cried, knowing something was very wrong.

Thursday, he ate nothing and I spoke to the vet. "Give him some white rice and chicken. If he doesn't eat that, bring him in to the office." He didn't eat anything. Friday, early morning, I brought Huck in. I had to lift him up to get him in the car.

Yellow...almost green gums. $2,000 for tests. Yellow insides of the ears. "This is an extremely sick dog."

How could this be? He was only 4 1/2. Liver cancer...something like that. The tests would only confirm the disease but not provide a cure.

Huck...approx. 10/25/09 to 4/11/14. I had him put down...so incredibly sad. He was around 95 lbs and was a formidable force to reckon with.

He was my boy and I haven't been able to work through it yet. I miss my boy so much I can't stand it. I would never have dreamed I could love a dog so much. I miss him.