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March 19, 2005

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A tribute to a friend.

So how do you define a best friend? Well, its somebody that's always there when you need a pal. Somebody that's always up for a good hug. And somebody that would never turn their back on you. Well, unless somebody else has a good doggie treat in their hands.

But Zachary was definitely one of those best friends that was always loyal. And boy did he love to hug. 

But I'm sad to say, that Zachary's time here on this world has come to an end. After battling cancer for some time now, his body finally gave in and let go.

I had acquired Zachary back sometime around 1993, when some friends, living in an apartment, decided that they could no longer care for him. They claimed that they could not house train him and was tired of the messes. I was rather reluctant in taking a dysfunctional dog, but my wife at the time pleaded and promised that she would take care of the messes. So I agreed and soon met the most wonderful soul I have ever known. At the time of the adoption he was already approximately 8 years old or so, but with no defined birth date. He was a miniature Sheltie, but was actually even small for one. I was told by the previous people that he had a problem when he was entering his "dog-hood" and had to have surgery on his private parts. Another reason for their disappointment, as they had originally wanted to use him for breeding purposes. 

So it actually didn't take long before Zachary was on a regular schedule of going outside and not much longer before he was completely house trained. "Hello!, when you gotta go, you gotta go." And when you don't have a schedule of when to go, you just "go".

Zach and I soon became best friends as he was always extremely glad to greet me, and was so upset when I would leave. Since he was a very small dog, I got into the habit of lying down on the floor when I came home so that he could give me a hug, on his level. He would climb up on my chest and drop his front legs on each side of my head, and just stay there and hug for a several moments.

We soon moved out of our apartment and into a house with a yard and Zach had plenty of space to take care of business.

Zach also had some very interesting traits about him that he had picked up over the years. As well as shaking hands and sitting and doing a few other minor tricks, he had learned how to sing as well. One day, while I was in my studio, with my head phones on and recording, I heard a very strange noise. I stopped playing and so did the noise. I thought there there might have been something wrong with my equipment. When I resumed my singing, the noise started again. Finally I looked around the room and found that Zachary, sitting off to the side, was trying to sing with me. Starting with a faint little howl, he would gradually get louder and louder. After learning this trait I began to just sing to him in which he would actually change his pitch to try to match mine. Although he never did quite get right on. But as I went up and down, so did he. Being a shy little dog, though I always had to sing to get him started. But getting over his shyness I was eventually able to just tell him to sing and he would raise his head and just start howling on his own.

Another interesting trait was when Zachary would get excited. He would start running in circles, but always counter-clockwise, and never clockwise. And as he would get more excited he would run faster and make smaller circles. Especially when somebody would leave or come home.  I often speculated that this may have been because he was "right-pawed". But I often wondered if I took him south of the equator, if he would run the other direction. heh heh.

Zach was always a playful spirit and would often taunt and tease the cats so that they would play with him. After tormenting them enough they would chase him around the house, whereas he would run and run until they tired and would rest up on a chair, reaching down, trying to grab him with every pass he made under them. When he played with people he would often act ferocious, and would just make a low growl, and rest his mouth on an arm or hand, pretending to bite. Never did I witness and angry or aggressive moment with this dog. He was always lovable and passive.

When eating he enjoyed very small bite-sized dry foods. He would take a mouthful of them, carry them into the living room, where the people were, and drop them on the floor. Then he would eat one piece at a time until they were all gone. Then go get another mouthful.

In 1997 my wife and I had separated and I moved out into an apartment, leaving Zach with the house, with the back yard and his familiar home. I soon left Texas and moved out to Virginia where I really missed my buddy. At the time my ex-wife had ran into major domestic problems with a boyfriend and fled Texas and brought Zachary to Virginia to stay with me until she could get things straightened out. It must have been a traumatic experience for Zach as he portrayed some major emotional problems. The shy little dog had become even more introverted. But it didn't take long before he settled and and was able to relax. He immediately made friends with lots of residents of the apartment complex and I gave him free reign with his outdoor duties. When he had to go out, I just opened the door and he went. I wouldn't close it all the way and when he returned he would just open it back up himself. But I never could teach him to close it back when he arrived. I presumed that it was because he wanted to leave it open, therefore he could go in and out as he pleased. The logic of a dog, I guess.

I had started to travel a lot for work and personal issues, so I began to leave Zachary with a wonderful person, a great friend, and neighbor, Victoria, who had fallen in love with the little guy. I could tell the feeling had become mutual as she spoiled the little kid rotten. But he did deserve somebody that would treat him so well. So, after numerous trips, I noticed that he was becoming more and more reluctant to return to my house. So I eventually gave him up to Victoria to be his caretaker and I actually became the sitter when she had to go on trips.

Victoria eventually moved to northern Virginia and I moved out here to Arizona and wasn't able to see Zachary quite as much. She kept me informed and would occasionally send me a new picture from time to time. And now I had just received the message about his passing.

I do have a considerable amount of pictures of Zachary as he was quite the little camera ham. Any time A camera was pointed at him he would pose. Just like this shot here.

After the bouts with cancer his kidneys finally failed on him and Victoria had to take him in. She held him as he drifted off to sleep. A good soul will be dearly missed by a great deal of people that he had touched in his short little life. Thank you, Victoria for taking such good care of Zach and for being a best friend to the sweetest dog in the world.

If angels ever came to earth, Zachary must have been one of them. And if there is a heaven for dogs, I know that they have been waiting for Zachary for quite some time now.

Good-bye to my little buddy.

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