Last night, April 5th, Graham's Smokin' Pepper went to the great sagebrush prairie in the sky.
In her final moments, she was surrounded by the family that loved her so very much.
Pepper joined our family on December 17, 1996. She was just as chubby a puppy as Carson was a chubby baby--he was 4 months old when we brought Pepper home. By the end of that Christmas season, the bottom 3 feet of our Christmas tree was bare. By the end of the 2nd Christmas season, it was safe to decorate the bottom of the tree as long as there was no hint of food on the ornament--no candy cane reindeer, no noodle angels, no popcorn garlands--because Pepper had a strongly developed sense of Lab trait "must eat everything". Her nose, and propensity to eat everything, often got her in trouble, but sure provided us with a lot of stories to tell and re-tell.
Pepper also was a mighty fine bird-dog. She loved to retrieve from the moment we brought her home. She gave it her all everytime we took her out. She would bust through anything--barbed wire, blackberry brambles, cattails--to get at those wily rooster birds. We all had a chance to watch her hunt and we were always amazed at her tenacity out in the field. It was a sad day when we couldn't take her out hunting anymore. On those days, she would lay around the house and during her naps we swear she was dreaming about chasing pheasants and quail because her feet would look like they were running and her nose was twitching.
For as wonderful as a bird-dog she was, she was even a better family dog. She was best friends to us all. Because she came home when Carson was only 4 months old, she had to quickly develop the Lab quality of quiet endurance and long-suffering. She was so patient with little kids. She would let them crawl on her, bite her, pull her ears and tail and all she would do is look up at us with those big, puppy-dog eyes as if to say "Really? Can't you do anything about these kids?" Sometimes when she had enough, she would let the kids have it--a good facewashing that is. Pepper had the biggest, slobberiest tongue of any dog I know. She was very free with her kisses, much to the dismay of some of our brothers and sisters when their children were involved.
We love you, Pepper and we will sure miss you. Thanks for all of the wonderful memories.
2 comments:
Pepper was the quintessential lab - outgoing with all people, easygoing with other dogs and the consumate huntress and retriever. She always checked to be sure that you or Dave wasn't watching when she sneaked a few licks under my chin - she knew I didn't mind. I remeber the puzzeled look she had when Romy first got bigger than she was - she seemed to shrug her dog shoulders, declare themselves girlfriends and off they went.
Yes, we'll all miss her very much. We are glad she was part of our family too.
I was sad to receive Mom's email about Pepper. We sure did love her and will miss her not being around when we visit Spokane. She really was amazing to watch while hunting, went anywhere and everywhere to find the birds. She pulled my first bird out of the cold creek in the half circle by the railroad tracks in Tekoa. I'm sad to see her go but glad she can chase all the birds she wants now in the prairies in the sky.
Dan
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