We lost Buddy in 2021, Max in 2022, and now Teddy in 2023.

I'm truly sorry to dump another one of these "Dead Dog Stories" on you. Believe me, there's nothing less I'd rather be doing. But I can't let Teddy down. I loved him like I loved all my dogs.

HIS FIRST DAY

Maybe it's the engineer in me who demands every fact be put in it's place and all loose strings wrapped up for the record. Maybe it's because I'm a narcissist and am willing to share the intimate details of Teddy's life and death to get some paltry clicks on social media. Maybe it's because I feel the need to write about my dead dogs so I can remember them better, more accurately, and as less mundane. It's all those things, but mostly it's because I feel like I need to remember him as he was, and not as time and my faulty memory would fade him.

He was with us for less than four years, and he deserves a much better goodbye than from my tepid hand.

I'm sure a lot of you will criticize me for detailing Teddy's end. No one wants to read about a dead or dying dog. I get it. But Teddy's end is a hugely important part of his life with us, and I can't write about him when he was a pup. Or his growing years. Or his development.

So I'll start it where I can.

We got Teddy on Friday, April 5th 2019. We thought he was around 9-10 years old. We had to put Teddy down on Friday, February 24, 2023.

He was being exterminated by bone and brain cancer when he died. We think he was around 14 years old. There is no way of knowing.

SKEDNAMES

Liana and I had been looking for another lab since we lost Coal in 2016. We were used to four dogs, and three dogs upset the balance. "Divide and Conquer" is what the Romans said, and they were in power for over a thousand years. We needed another dog, or our empire would come to a screeching, ignoble end. Like Blockbuster Video.

We were told Teddy's owner passed away in Farmington. None of the immediate family could / would take him and he ended up at the shelter. It must have been quite a shock for the old boy considering how stubborn, old, and sensitive he was. He was promptly scooped up by Old Dogs New Digs, an organization that specializes in placing older shelter dogs. That's where we got him. That's where it began.

We weren't allowed to see his previous vet records, or they just weren't available. So we didn't know his predispositions, and no one had any advice for us. That was a shame, because we quickly named Teddy the "Anti-Lab." He was so unlike all our other dogs past and present. Sketti was a sweet, huge, 105lb enigma. Or as I called him, a huge Pain in the Bum.

First there was "Teddy Ballgame," but that was too long to yell at him effectively. Then came "Yellow Teddy" from an obscure Phil Hendrie bit about negligees. Then "Teddy Spaghetti," "Spsketti," "Skabetti," "Sketti," "Skeddy," and finally just "Skeds."

I also called him "Small Head Ted" because, well... he had a small head in proportion to his body. People thought I was being mean....

SKETTI'S PAST

After Teddy settled into Chez Salty, Liana and I hypothesized about the nuts and bolts of Teddy's previous life. This is what we came up with:

1) We always got the feeling that he was waiting for his previous owner to come back at any second.

2) Teddy lived in a 1-story house. He absolutely would NOT go up more than three stairs. EVER.

3) Teddy lived with a woman. He tolerated Liana and even snuggled her at times. But Teddy never tolerated me for affection, or any male for that matter. Teddy was a one-woman dog.

4) Teddy was an only dog with minimal exposure to other dogs. He wasn't aggressive at all, but he never bonded or even played with any of our other dogs. Except for Auggie. He seemed to have a respect for Auggie that most likely derived from Aug not giving a shit about him. Or biting him. And Teddy would completely ignore any other dog he was introduced to.

If Teddy was asleep by himself in our bed and another dog jumped up, he'd growl and skulk off to sleep on the hard floor. Not on one of the 20 dog beds we have, but THE COLD HARD FLOOR. And he would NEVER jump up on the bed if another dog was up there. Or me. After a while, he'd jump up if Liana was there. But that was it. And he never got excited about it.

5) We surmised Teddy lived with a woman who cooked him human food and fed him intermittently throughout the day. Teddy refused kibble and the concept of a feeding time.

When we let the other dogs out to poop and pee before their breakfast, Teddy would wander away and not come back for an hour or more.

We fed him the super-expensive Stella & Cheweys after we had to remove his jaw, even though human food might have been easier and cheaper. But the other dogs would have revolted and dragged our carcasses into the streets if they knew Teddy was getting human food and they weren't. Teddy really liked lamb ears and Tripe. And he was addicted to Metamucil Fiber Cookies for humans.

Towards the end, Teddy wouldn't eat for me. Even if it was just him and me. I fed him his Stella & Chewey's patties by hand for a while. Then he stopped and had to be with Liana full-time. He would eat for her most times.

6) Teddy was an "Inside Dog." All 105lbs of him. Teddy never went swimming. He hated walking in wet grass. He hated water in every form unless it was in a bowl that he could spread all over the floor whilst getting a few tablespoons in his mouth. That was even before we had to cut out his jaw. And even then, he wasn't too excited about it.

Over the years his hatred of water and swimming mellowed as Ted respected Auggie more. It was with utter amazement we saw Teddy actually swim after a ball at Hendricks Head Beach the October before we had to put him down.

On leash-free walks, Teddy would dart out in front of everyone else and stray off the trail. Then he would become engrossed in a smell and fall behind. When he snapped out of it, he'd take the wrong fork in the trail every single time. He had no useful hiking qualities that we knew of.

Teddy never tried to escape the shop, though. That was a big plus and much appreciated.

Continued......... https://www.twosaltydogs.net/blog/goodnight-teddy-spaghetti/

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