BEAR the Wonder hound

It was a hot day that summer when a woman brought over our new frien. Debbi's sister Ashley worked at pet samaritan and athe same woman posted a sign for a rescue dog needing adoption. a Schipperkie, the breed i fell in love with after seeing one on a pet store a long time ago. (Debbi's grandmother used to breed them)"I said if i ever have a dog , that is the kind i want" what a coincidence eh?

This woman brought in this black pointy eared little gu. Schippies are big dogs in a small package) At first, he was scared and I thought "he was familiar with that feeling" Love at first site he was one of those animal people who you just like right off and if he doesn't like YOU,,, he let ya know it! .They left me and Bear alone while the two women went out to talk ( i knew debbo was gonna take him in ) so i sat next to Bear and introduced myself and said "you will love it here you wilbe happy and well taken care of like you never can imagine. he looked up at me and a trust was built they came back inside and the woman said well i can take him back and we said no he can stay and she said his name was BEAR cuz he " looked like a little Bear" so instead of totally confusing him that is what his name was .

He warmed up to us and his new surroundings and sat close as if he felt safe .

For the next 15 years that guy was a big part of the family debbi got a cat and they became close pals even sleeping spoony style together!( molly's doing) Bear would growl in his sleep but never wake upit was animal plamet in front of our eyes! *(molly the cat was a rescue from a scholmate of mine whose evil son killed the other 3 kittens from the litter the day after took her home )*.. Ian the older son had BEAR sleeping in his bed until he moved out on his own/ and b Bear spent the nights in Adam's room or Debbi;s bed> When Adam moved out Bear became our sole companion byt this time Debbi had taken in another cat "Tony" unlike Molly he was a bit skittish and didnt realy comeinto his own until the carpet shark had slowed down Molly put up with the chasing and other stuff from the hyper hound thelook on her face was worthy of a picture ."Do you always have to be this way" they were a great couple the dog was a little confused psychiatrists might say.

Bear went on every vacation to the Beach he loved runing down the waterline after all schipperkie dogs are famous for their reputation as boaters we have heard a million stories of the Schipperkie breed from many self claimed experts the most hillarious was that the dogs were the priate ship captian companion these 2 women were staying at Mt Hood one christmas and they spent an hour in the lobby telling us stories of Schipperkie adventure Bear loved the snow that big ches t of his is like an ice cutter on a nuclear sub crashing thru the 3 foot drifets and blazing a trail. Beebo as we called him only stood 12 inches off the ground! but made a huge impression that night we put a blanket on the floor and he arranged it into a bed finally coming onto our bed and we discovered a strange trait when his "off" button is pressed he really shuts off we moved hi like a log across thebed with himnevr opening an eye hahahah

but when he is "ON" he is on full power, a real tazmanian devil dog on speed he was. PLaying fetch was more of workout for me id throw the toy or bal and then hed go find it" Here it is!" never brought it back ever ( my cat Sheeba was a fetcher shed play fetch with balls of paper for a long time* This dog's fun was chasing the cats and takingus for a walk Bear was a great aerobuic trainer especially whenhe was young his little powerful body could punll you around a block or 5 in Southeast portland like a concrete sled dog.

Bear wasnt a Barky dog but he let us know when someone was in the perimenter and the hallway with the stais created a great echo chamber except for the "after ring" i think he barked just to hear THAT... some dogs can squiggle into a u turn like a snake, bear was more like a horse he in that respect hehad to pivot his entire body,

once he hit the street on a walk it was like his onbutton was pushed iike those battery operated cars before remote control models were all the rage with debbi he turned left out of the driveway with me he wanted to go roght whch eventually led to a daily trip to the pet store 4 blocks away where the women would give him treats Bear was a Ladies man there was the famous Penguin Pub on the corner a block away and hot summer lte night walks we wold end up there the door was always propped open and the karaoke singers were so bad sometimes im sure they kept even the rats away! but people would fall out the door and many fell out of their dress looking a skad too young to be a legal patron and they all loved bear " Is that a dog?" they askesd and more than once i ttold his story as a mongolian pig that i bought on a trip to manchura " and as i am quite convincing during these imaginations they always bought it the windergogs fur is double coat( for thoese arctic swimming excursions-) A pig? he looks lke a dog! "Yes but thats why they are so rare if you can get close enough( you could nevr get close enough) you can hear his tiny oink.....

Walking home he would give me a look that only thins dog could do a sideways smiler like "where do you come up with this crap fatman?" and a hearty HEH HEH HEH that maybe only i could hear.

THis was our routine his life debbis life more than mine wake up wlak the Bear for 30 minutes work out take shower wait in line for sellwood bridge forn hour to take the 11 minute trip after the bridge to wok back home walk th edog for a l 30 minutes or so befoe she sat down.. like i said previously he was a damn workout Trainer - passive agressive of course,,,,, but he did get both of us out the door, even me on a rainy day...

he saw a million sunsets at the beaches of the oregon coast, got the sea on his fur * the very first time we took him to west Moreland park that had a creek running thru it with ducks and kids who had parents dumb enough to elt them swim in the duck poop water and who knws what else.

walking by the edge of said creek we were talking abd bear clocks some ducks and jumos in after them* awww flexi leads,,,* we were quite a ways from it was warm out and it had dried and man that dude smelled foul AND LOVED IT~!

BATH TIME FOR BOWSER

He didnt like that part of the process and looked a little miffed that the Flavor of Moreland park was not there any more . he always recovered quickly.... or,,,, did he just forget when something else caught his attention?. ( i can relate to that)

Bear Moved to the woody SW hills and it was so different than the busy sidewalk which was starting to get dodgy at this point i once felt super safe at night walking the blocks and then the Penguin closed and it was a ghost town.

there was one sidewalk and few people especially chatty "your dog is soooo cute" girls in the back there was a forest and a creek its a great place no rear neighbors! just a hiway out the front door and a patio before the sidewalk the rain pee area for mr B

as time does to anyone it caught up with Beebo and he was not the manic monster he once was he was a loyal trooper til the end and it came last october 24 2019 he was hurting and debbi stayedup all night and leaing on her shoulder gave her apain that lasted almost th e year the pain of Beebos exit is still fresh and you can't help but not try to trip over the black fur log sleeping in front of the tv.

We took a trip to Manzanita oreogn one of our most favorite beach destinations stayed in a newplace a really excellent deluxe place with a hottub in the bathroom! i Kinda had a feeling it was gonna be our last family trip it was a strange weekend my frined Paul Delano died as we drove to the beach and a funeral notice for Kimmie Cottrell came thru on the phone before we even got out of town then the iphone went to an apple logo never t return

There is nothign like the sound and smell of the sea , it always makes me feel better

and of course Marzono's pizza helps

I have taken more pics and videos of this little guy than most parents take of their 5 kid families! he ha ssung barkup on a song by my character Mattison Avenoo t"he cookie song"

I taught him how to talk a little at least say OUT! when he had to pee and we shared the frequent urination schedule

he would stand in front of me and say ......OWWWWWWT! and i'd get up and take him for a walk

Bar and i had a real communication, he could look at me a certain way and i'd know what he was saying*( most of the time ==about 92 % of it anyway he wanted a treat once a month on a daily walk to the pet store i'd buy him a bag of treats, debbi would not do that. thatwas "your "thing," not mineshe would say "and he doesnt say owwwt to ME... that is also YOUR thing that dog has you trained uh,,, yes he did