This past Monday the wonderful Chocolate Lab Eddie passed very suddenly at the age of 2 to Leukemia.  It came as a shock to all of us both because Eddie was so full of life and really only exhibited mild symptoms of illness in the last week and due to his young age of two.  Obviously he was not with us long enough.

Eddie was the life of the party in our group.  He was loved by all the other dogs and their owners.  Everyone knows a man or woman who is just always so upbeat and fun and it just makes you feel good to be in their presence.  Well this was our Eddy the dog.  Every dog walk that included Eddie was just that much more lively and fun.  Every one was his best friend.

The last few days the Dog Mobile and our walks have just not felt the same with out Eddie’s sparkling presence.  In fact they seem life less and empty.  I am sure it is going to take quite some time to grieve and come to terms with the loss of our special Eddie.

When Eddie was little he used to finish his walks and crawl from the back of the Dog Mobile and squeeze through under the barrier to come in the front seat and sleep beside me.  When he got too big to do this he always lay with his nose sticking through the barrier so I could put my hand down to pet him and get wonderful Eddie kisses in return.

Eddie became my full time assistant dog walker at one point as my dog Dot decided it wasn’t for her anymore.  She just wanted to walk and not work.  If some young dogs had some extra energy to burn Eddie would lead them on what I called run ups or sprint intervals back and forth ahead of us until they were tired.  If two dogs were thinking about not getting along Eddie would just slip his gorgeous little body in between the two dogs to deflect their tension.  If a dog was doing something they weren’t supposed to do Eddie would present a stick to play with or do something else to distract them.  Eddie was a peace maker.

Eddie also loved to share his cookies so many dogs especially Laika, Kali and Dot love to get out of the car at Eddie’s house and go have treats both before and after their walk.  Eddie also always had a bowl of fresh clean water outside on his back step so the dogs could get a drink after walking on a hot day.  On special days like Valentines Day and Halloween and even on his Birthday Eddie would leave special cookies out to share with his friends.

When we were at the Veterinary Hospital on Sunday and learned that he would not have long to live they said it is always hard to lose a dog so young.  That is true but in Eddie’s case he was young and a special, special dog.  I have owned dogs my whole life and I have been walking dogs now for many years and I can tell you he was one of the most special dogs I have ever met in my life.

I have been telling the other dogs the bad news over the last few days.  Today when I told little Jess who was one of Eddie’s favorite gal pals she stood up and put a paw on each of my hips and gave me a hug.  Then part way through our walk when I was overcome with tears and emotion she again gave me a great hip hug.  Jess has never done that before.  When I told Tug who has just lost his companion Cocoa very recently and is a really good friend of Eddie’s he totally understood and gave me some grunts and kisses to comfort me.

Eddie is predeceased by his best Chocolate Lab friend and mentor Rigby and his special Golden Retriever friend Cocoa (Kofax) and his older special girl friend Terra.  I am hoping they are all together now in Heaven and he and Rigby are playing tug of war and Eddie is licking Terra’s ears the way he loves to do.

Eddie is survived by his most amazing owner Lynda who loved and cared for Eddie in the best possible way.  He is also survived by his Aunt Dot who helped raise him and tried to let Rigby’s Chocolate Lab influence always be stronger than her Terrier influence.  Eddie was Dot’s best friend.