On May 2nd, 2023 my companion dog, passed. He was a 14-year-old English Setter acquired from American Brittany Rescue 13 years before. After three weeks or so I began looking for another Setter; all attempts failed for one reason or another. So I thought, I went to ABR to get a Brittany but wound up with a Setter; maybe it was time to get a Brittany when looking for a Setter. After looking at the variety of dogs available, my wife said “you will get the right dog at the right time.” That time was in a few weeks; we met Moose from Montana. His Foster Mom, told us about him all the good things and some minor issues. We were camping in Oregon at the time; organized our meeting outside of Boise, Idaho. When we met, I walked Moose and our Chihuahua, Kobe around the rest area. After the third walk, the Foster Mom left. Moose looked for her; now was the moment I of concern. I took Moose around to the side of our truck, opened the back door; Moose jumped into the back seat! Yes!
Our first night, after having dinner (outside) at Y-Knot Winery in Glenn Ferry, ID after walks around the area. We settled down, dogs on the lower bed, my wife and I in the overhead of our camper. Lights out, door closed; my wife said “one of the dogs jumped of their bed.” I sat up and looked and saw Moose’s face looking at me. In a flash Moose jumped got next to me, circled three times and settled down next to me. He is my dog. Our next stop on the way home was Boomtown, just west of Reno Nevada. We were encouraged by the store staff to bring the dogs into Cabela’s Sporting Store. There Moose met up with some (stuffed) African display animals, especially the Big Eared Fox. He couldn’t figure them out so he pointed and barked. Day three of our trip home was a stop at the beach. Just north of the city of Morro Bay, he got to partake in the Pacific Ocean: loved the birds, played in the water but did not enjoy getting splashed by the waves.
Now Mr. M is my companion, my shadow. Our walks are enjoyable; watching him run around the library grounds, around the church lawn; chasing rabbits, squirrels and lizards, whether real or imagined. It has been a year now with Moose, Kobe and the cats, Starbuck and Mocha and he is well settled in together.
He is the companion I wanted, and was supposed to get.