Gunner-rooski

In March of 1995, Jay & I decided to get our first dog.  It had to be a Labrador as that was the only type of dog I had ever had and/or ever thought existed.  We found an ad in the newspaper and drove to Charleston to pick him up.  He was about 12 weeks old when we brought him home.  He was a big fat chocolate lab pup, adorable, of course.  He was spoiled from the beginning.  Jay and I weren't married until August of that year so he lived as a city dog for a few months, and then when we bought our trailer and set it up out in the country, he and Jay moved there, and after August, I joined them.  And this is where it begins...

I was in court reporting school.  Jay was working full time.  So our sweet, Gunner-rooski (as we called him) would be by himself for long periods of time during the day.  If there ever was a loyal dog, it was Gunner.  We could leave him outside for the entire day, and he would be sitting on the step when we got home.  People would tell us that they would drive by and that dog would just be sitting on that step waiting.  As he got a little older, we started letting him stay inside while we were gone.  Yikes.  Have you seen or read Marley & Me?  You can imagine...It was always a surprise to open the door at the end of the day to see what he destroyed while we were gone.  He had his own couch so-to-speak and he would sit/lay on that couch all day.  Once we forgot to leave the miniblinds open to see he could watch the cars drive by.  He chewed the perfect square out of the blind so he could see out.  He would drag only Jay's laundry or shoes out of our bedroom and lay on them or chew on them, according to whatever mood he was in.  When friends would come over and sit on his couch...he would circle the coffee table and couch over and over staring at them until they moved. 

We took Gunner-rooski everywhere.  He was our first child.  And everywhere we went, people treated him like one.  Jay's Grandpa Truman was still alive then and he would babysit Gunner whenever we needed him too.  Truman spoiled him with hot dogs...Gunner liked them heated in the microwave and cut into small pieces on a paper plate.  He learned if he would stand in the kitchen and hit the microwave button with his nose, Grandpa Truman would come in and fix him a hot dog.  One time Truman let Gunner out to use the bathroom, and when Truman went to let him in, he couldn't find him.  Gunner was a block away in the neighbor's swimming pool.  Truman heard screaming kids and headed that direction.

We moved to Lawrenceville in 1997, and of course, Gunner-rooski went with us.  He and I would take walks every morning and every evening.  I could walk to the grocery store, leave him sitting at the front door with his leash just dangling, and he would be right there waiting for me when I came out.  He was truly loyal.  Sometime in late 1999 or early 2000, Gunner developed kidney problems.  We had him at the vet all the time, he was on special dog food, which was very expensive, but he was our baby and that's what you do.  In December of 2000, actually on his 6th birthday, we put our sweet Gunner-rooski to sleep.  He had gotten really bad and we felt it was no longer fair to him to keep him alive.   Right before taking him to the vet, Jay & Gunner played fetch in the empty lot across from our house just like they did every day.  He was happy.  It was a perfect last game.  Good or bad, we compare every dog we've had since then to our precious Gunner...and unfortunately, there have been several.