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Memories of Bubba

In May 1993, Bubba came home. My boys didn’t like his puppy teeth so they’d sit perched on the back of the sofa until he’d calm down. We filled up the wading pool and all the “boys” went swimming in it. We played the chase and tackle game so Bubba would learn to submit to us and relax when held down. However, Bubba always thought that my younger son, Neil, was the puppy at the end of the pack order. When Bubba went to puppy kindergarten, Neil thought he would learn to lift his leg when he peed. He was a popular show-and-tell for both my sons’ school classes.

Bubba participated in his first Fourth of July parade as a four month old. He walked until he got tired (which wasn’t very far.) I carried him the rest of the way, a heavy, overflowing furry bundle. Bubba was the mascot for my older son’s, Tim’s, soccer team. For the championship game, he wore a team shirt. He was good luck and the team became the 5th grade champs. Bubba loved “kicking” a soccer ball with his front feet while holding a tennis ball in his mouth. He must have learned it watching the boys play at all the games that summer.

For Bubba’s first birthday, I made him a cake with bisquick, little smokey sausages and dog cookies. I’m so happy I videotaped him eating that cake…what a funny mess! Bubba tried a few dog shows but it wasn’t for us. I trained him to pull a cart for parades. He also had a sled harness and skijoring rope so he pulled us on roller blades. Bubba was the subject of Tim’s science project to test a dog’s sense of smell. We trained him to find hidden pig ears; first, under blankets and then buried at various depths in the snow. Tim won a $100 scholarship with that project.

Bubba was such a clown! He wanted to play with the cat’s toys, especially little fur mice. He hid the mice in his lips and snuck them out to his kennel run. Sometimes I caught him but usually all I found were the strips of fur that formerly were mice. He also loved stuffed shark toys. He mostly liked to gut them by pulling out the noise maker inside. Afterwards, he still played with the limp, gutted “skin.” Bubba was known as the birth control dog. Whenever my husband and I hugged or kissed, he tried to come between us. Bubba also loved to see/smell what was in the garbage. He would give me a sideways look to make sure he had my attention before he flipped the lid off with his nose. He was such a good boy that he allowed me to take a pork chop illegally procured out of his mouth. Everyone thought he was the cutest, especially his expressive half masked face. One time the vet techs took him in back to draw some blood. As they walked him back, they were gushing about how cute he was. In a few minutes later, however, I heard a chorus of Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwww! Yep, he slimed them good with slobber.

In the last year of his life, Bubba began to have more and more difficulty walking. He was on pain medication for his hips. I moved his crate upstairs, and helped him up and down the two steps from the house to the garage. Two times he fell down while walking, once in the garage and one time in the yard. I thought he might have had a heart attack. I sat by his side, petting him, while he slowly recovered. He started becoming disoriented and confused. He slept ninety percent of the day and all night. With winter approaching, the cold would have caused him further agony in his hips. The kindest solution to help him was the most heart wrenching for me but I loved him so much. After the boys said their good-byes, I freed him from pain. I petted his big goofy head while he went peacefully to sleep for the last time.

His ashes are on the dresser in my bedroom. His collar and “sharky skin” are there also. I still miss him. In my heart, Bubba is waiting for me at the Bridge. What a joyous reunion that will be!