RIP Bubba Dog, You ARE Missed

 

Our Bubba Boy is with his sister, sitting on Dad's lap with cousin Charlie (Patti's dog).  Above is from our 2013 travels, and no...they did not have sunglasses on, and no, Bubba did not have that big white smile.  They were together so much, Bubba and Skruffy, now they are together forever.

Countless times they were staring out the motorhome door waiting for their FAVORITE time...their Arny Treat to start the day.  "IF" we let them out early, Skruffy and her big mouth would wake the entire neighborhood.  This year we let Bubba out, and Indy once we got her, and they would wander the yard and then wait for Arny.  

Then there was the time on our first visit out west in 2012.  Stopped at a rest area in the middle of the Mojave Dessert and not a blade of grass could be seen.

But Bubba ALWAYS walked to the beat of his own drum.  He was kind, gentle, quiet, always in search of a handout (treat), and loved the smells of the outside (and of food, of course).  His love of outside smells had him taking off at any opportunity he could. And those smells would over-ride his normal obedience.  You say, "Bubba NO!", he would mind...unless the call of the smell was there...then off he went.

Of course, Bubba loved to get his naps.  With our first motorhome, he got his own man cave, where the original old TV was encased and would pop up over the dashboard at the push of a button.  He loved that man cave.

But he sure loved his food...and the food of others.  This had to have been his happiest 3+ months, when we left him at Sandy and Arny's while we went back to Florida.  No Skruffy, his favorite Uncle Arny and Aunt Sandy, and he only ran away (sniffed his way down the block) two or three times!

And boy did he like a nice green lawn and a roll on his back.

No matter HOW HOT it was, Bubba would go lay on the grass in the sun.

This was him all groomed out for the initial trip out west.  From this point on, I did most of his grooming, and although he did not like it at first, he came to put up with me.

While we mourn, Bubba is rolling on his back laughing.

This morning, in the middle of the night, Bubba got up and walked over to the front door, 2 am.  I got up and let him out, he walks about 10 steps and just stares out into the night.  After 5 minutes of him staring, I ask him to come in and he turns around and comes in...but won't get in his bed.  I turn the light on and see that he peed in his bed in his sleep.  Yesterday morning after coming back in from his morning duty, he stood up in his bed and was shaking...every leg shaking, his whole body shaking...it  was if he was so weak that he could not stand but he did not want to lay down either.  Over the past week he has nearly fallen out of the motorhome 2-3 times, and needed help to get back in nearly every time he went out.  When I let him out at 2 am this morning, with it being dark and the light on, he just went down the stairs like they were nothing, and back up again.  In the sunlight it was so bright on his eyes that he could not see where he was going.  He bumped into trees, bushes, picnic benches, the motorhome...it was just heartbreaking.  On top of that his cough was getting very persistent. About all he did was eat, sleep, pee and poop.  So our decision was do we let him eventually fall out of the motorhome and get hurt (break leg or neck) and then put him down, or do it now while he was failing but before he got hurt.  Marcia could not stand to see him continue going downhill, and did not want to see him hurting (from a fall).  So now he is free from that aging body...he was a GREAT dog, and good boy, and went so peacefully to sleep.  They have a butterfly garden where they spread the ashes of the dogs and cats and other critters...so next time you see a butterfly, think of Bubba.