scrappin' cpa: February 2010

We had to put Winnie down last night. It was his time. For all of you who knew Winnie, he was a special dog. He was the first dog in the Lamparski household.

We picked him up from Locke's farm on Lara's 10th birthday. He was so tiny. One of his ears flopped over, the other was straight up. We put him in the laundry room with a bed and water bowl. The laundry room was perfect. There was a small step to get into the rest of the house. It took Winnie six months before he was big enough to jump ioto the kitchen.

I use to say that Winnie had a purpose for each of the family members. He knew I would feed him, Paul would walk him and Lara would love him to pieces. Alex qualified for that last part when Lara was off to camp or college.

Winnie had special talents. He did all the usual dog tricks but his talent was he could sneeze on command. He could also fake sneeze in a pinch. When called on the fake sneeze he would do his best to work up a real sneeze sometimes hitting his nose on the floor. He knew what we wanted.

He was also a good teacher. He trained all dogs who came after him to wait when told. It comes in handy when walking down stairs and opening the door.

Winnie did have a Napoleon complex. He thought he was a much bigger and tougher dog than he was. It got him into trouble on more than one occasion. I remember when he was in obedience class with 6 German Shepard's and Rottweilers. He didn't think he was so big then.

He loved chasing and retrieving soccer balls and snow balls and rocks. It all started when we accidentally kicked snow chunks when walking on the street after a big snow. Snow chunks turned to rocks and then to soccer balls. There was a point where we would get tired of kicking the rocks he brought to us, we would kick them down the storm drain. For many years where we had no rocks on the street outside our house. The rock retrieving was not kind to his teeth. He would herd the soccer ball until enough air was out of it and he could grab it with his teeth. Once when Winnie was chasing a rock he ran into the curb. After that experience if he got near a curb at a high speed he would fling himself over the curb. Thus avoiding another crash. None of our subsequent dogs have retrieved objects like Winnie did.

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Winnie went everywhere with us. I use to have a Cutlass Convertible. He loved that car. When I had the top down he would perch himself on my armrest, feet resting on the back seat, head out the side. It was a sad day when I sold that car. Other convertibles did not get the same response. Winnie has been driven to Michigan twice. He is my mom's favorite grand dog. He was the first.

As Winnie got older his ability to hear and see became more selective. As his vision went he would think changes in color were changes in height so he would "fling" himself over the crevasses that was the driveway changing to grass. However his loss of hearing and seeing seemed to be selective at first. Any mention of food would bring him running from any corner of the house and he could always find the crumb that fell to the floor. As time went on it became harder for Winnie to walk, the Parkinson's he had been diagnosed with at 7 was making it harder to walk and stand. Wood floors and stairs were especially troublesome. But Winnie always had a good heart and a good attitude. He always seemed to have a smile on his face. Even at the end.

Winnie, you will be missed. There will never be another Corgi like you. They say all dogs go to heaven. I pray that I will have led a good enough life to see Winnie when I go. Please keep Sophie company. You will be missed. xoxoxoxox