Copper

Close to 15 years ago, I sent Dave off with the three girls just to look. I told him “Don’t come home with one.” It was just before Labor Day, and I didn’t want to bring an untrained puppy up to the lake.

They insisted on naming her Copper after the dog in Disney’s The Fox and The Hound. I tried to talk them into Penny since she was a girl. (I thought I was pretty clever.)

From the get go, I did not get my way with that dog.

She was remarkable at how quickly she could discover, get within reach of, and consume food. The following instances jump to mind:

• The holiday ham at Debbie’s
• The buffet sandwiches at Phil’s celebration of life
• The expensive steak my brother Dave was about to grill
• The expensive, freshly grilled steak from my mother’s plate (The piece she specifically picked out.)
• The lunch the house painter had packed in his bag
• The large bag of food hidden up in the master bath closet at the Cape that belonged to Sue’s dog (I thought she was going to explode.)
• The Costco-sized box of chocolates that Dave had bought for his mom for Christmas (I found the destroyed box in the basement a couple weeks after Christmas.)
• The marijuana-laced Rice Krispie treats a high school party guest had brought in a backpack

She was also an expensive dog. In recent years, the monthly budget line item I had for her was somewhere between a large car payment and a small mortgage. In addition to routine vet visits, she had

• urinary tract infections (Symptom: peeing inside Heather’s freshly carpeted bedroom closet)
• impacted anal glands (Symptom: scooting on the family room carpet)
• Cushing’s disease (Symptoms: peeing on my mother’s bedroom carpet at the lake and an overpowering smell)
• various teeth extractions
• arthritis meds
• thyroid meds
• Lyme disease
• a charcoal flush of her system to take care of the Rice Krispie treats (on the eve of Matt’s wedding)
• surgery to remove multiple growths and tumors (She went from looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame to Frankenweenie.)

So what did I like about her?

Well, I have to admit there were times when I actually thought she was pretty cute, and there were times when I had to laugh at the look on her face. Or shake my head in amazement at her antics. She would literally sneak up the stairs to get at any candy up in the kids’ rooms, and she always knew when the garage door meant Dave was home from work. She would meet him at the door with a frantically wagging tail. (I got no such greeting upon my arrival.) If there was a treat involved, she was easily trainable to do useful things such as giving you her paw, playing dead, and “speaking”. (Am I digressing from what I liked about her?)

One of my favorite things about her was the fact that the kids loved her. And she loved them back. She brought them joy, and there were times she brought them comfort. How could I not love that? Plus, she put up with a significant amount of teasing from the one who did not have a younger sister to tease.

She was happy anywhere. Or, in her later years, at least comfortable anywhere. In the back yard or in front of the fireplace at Dunstable. Running around on the beach at the Cape. On the boat or exploring at the lake. Trotting around our development in Methuen like a dog half her age. Making herself at home in Leo’s space in New Jersey. At Nicole’s apartment exploring the streets of Boston. And in Florida where she seemed to thrive with us in retirement. At the house in Jupiter, there were no steps for her to deal with, and she would occasionally head to the slider to let us know she needed to go outside and then come right back in to pass out on the cool tile floor or on the rug under the end table.

Of those locations, I’m thinking she liked the lake the best. She had freedom to roam around up there. There was always plenty of people and plenty of attention and plenty of food for her to get at. She was capable of opening the screen door to the lower level and getting at the s’mores supplies stored in the kitchen. She would race down to the dock as soon as we yelled “Copper want a boat ride?” Often the boat rides ended up in Meredith where she would get her own bowl of ice cream – especially on her birthday.

Of course, I felt a sense of responsibility for her. She depended on us, and we owed it to her to take care of her. So even though I did not do most of the walking or the feeding or vet appointments, I made sure all that happened. When she was sick, I worried. Does love come hand in hand with responsibility?

There was no question of taking care of her at the end.

Shortly before we were to come back north, she was in pain one day. The vet gave us the news. A tumor impacting a number of organs. A heart that didn’t sound good. The promise of increased pain. We FaceTimed with our girls so they could say goodbye to their girl.

We got her the deluxe package. She has a nicer urn than either my mother or Phil. And we are bringing her back to the lake.