With Tate being gone for more than a week, I am beginning to catalog the things I miss most about him. Sad business, but talking about it helps me cope with the loss.
- Counter surfing – Tate was king of counter surfing. Nothing was safe, and could be left unattended. Bread, cheese, butter, napkins, etc, all was at risk. We had to keep listening for him climbing to go hunting.
- Begging – He became needier and needier as he got older, and would stare at you closely when you were eating (towards the end, he was infatuated with eating your paper napkin. Nom nom nom)
- Herding the pack – he always wanted the pack to be together, and preferably on the couch in the living room. How dare you want to be elsewhere, working on your computer, or doing anything he didn’t want you to do.
- The stare – he could unnerve Barbara just by staring at her. He was looking for attention. Or not, but, he wanted something.
Tate opens his Christmas gift - The fake walk request – again, towards the end, he would mill around by the front door, the classic “I want a walk” behavior, but when you went through the motions, he would get to the end of the driveway and want to go back home.
- Snuggliness – he was always an affectionate boy, wanting to be nearest to you. On the couch, or by your bed.
- Snuggling on the bed – until we started him on the potassium bromide, he occasionally demanded to sleep on the bed with me (after the KBr, he didn’t have enough rear end coordination to confidently jump on the guest bed – so sad). Often, after one of his seizures, he would insist on a night of cuddle sleep, which I gladly participated in.
- Food toy play – to the bane of Garrett, Tate dominated the food based toys. Chew toys with places to hide kibble or other noms. Early in his time with us, we made the mistake of buying both of the bro’s the same toy. The fight left Garrett with staples, and a wariness towards Tate 🙁
Tate is adorable - Zoomies – the best thing about greyhounds is watching them run. They love to bust a move, and to let their hair (so to speak) down. The problem was finding a fenced in area to let them stretch their legs. The last couple of weeks, Tate did some zoomies in our backyard. Alas, Garrett is beyond the age where he can even zoom.
- The morning walkies – Pre work walkies was a deemed right. Regardless of how late I was running, or how early I needed to be in the office, or how dark it was, we needed to walk. The more, the better, and heaven help me if I tried to cut it short. Tate had an agenda, and a route, and he loved to go “exploring”.
Yes, I will miss him for a long time. Sorry to drag out the tearful posts, but this I must do.