#dogs

I sit here in my temporary housing, embracing the coziness of fall weather and its attendant sweaters and cocoas and whatnot, and face the prospect of being in a house without a dog to snuggle for the first time in around 20 years. Today we euthanized Cyrus, our absolute doof of a Boxer/Shepherd mix after a pretty darn long life and a much longer run with cancer than anyone expected.

He was certainly not always a good dog (friends who know about it... know about it), which only makes the feelings more complicated. And of course, when someone's life is in your hands, even a four-legged life, it's always complicated.

But we'll miss him a lot. Here's some pictures, mostly of him doing his one job: looking very sad with his Gregory Peck eyebrow.

He was very grand, and super long. Just the kind you want to see when you want to see a dachshund. Pretty much just like Lazlo was in his heyday.

He is gone, though, and that was pretty tough. He had a good run — by the time we had him euthanized in March due to his being senile, in pain, and generally not happy with life anymore, he was at least 16 and probably older. He'd been an exemplary family dog through two small children despite his breed's reputation, and the most excellent snuggler that you could ever hope for. It was the first time a dog had died on my watch since having kids, and you can imagine what that adds to it.

RIP my friend.