My heart has joined the Thousand,

for my friend stopped running today.

Drawing by Cedar, for the coloring book ‘Taskforce CHIWEENIE’.

I first met him in 2008, at Rita’s house. He was a little ginger-furred bundle, with a confident 45 pound attitude in a tiny puppy body. He was half-dachshund and half chihuahua — a chiweenie — and I, used to cattle-dogs, was a little dubious.

He was Rita’s first mixed-breed dog, and her first rescue, a companion doggie for her newly-acquired Jack Russell Terrier pup.

With his parentage he could have been a holy terror, but he wasn’t. He was calmly confident, scary-smart, and approached humans and other dogs with a “Don’t start none, won’t be none” attitude, which charmed several people who swore that they weren’t “small dog people”.

He was my writing buddy, bed-hog, pickup co-pilot, literary figure, and wise — albeit silent — counsel for 17 years.

Of the dozens of dogs I’ve had to go through this with over the years, this one was the most painful.

See you down the road, Chuy.

Ian