We got Zeke in December 2001 when he was 5 weeks old. We had been trying to have a baby for awhile and couldn’t so we said “Let’s just get a puppy.” We had just bought our first house and decided to go for it. I had been circling boxer “ads” in the Pennysaver and leaving them open on the kitchen counter as a hint to my husband. LOL One day he came home with a a puppy. He was tiny. The runt and also the cheapest one. When they said “clearance puppy” in Marley and Me, we all looked at each other like “hey, we have one of those!” He instantly was like our kid, slept in our bed, sat next to us on the couch, and went in the car to “grandma’s house.”
Two months after we got him, I turn up pregnant. I remember housetraining a puppy with chronic morning (all day!) sickness was not fun. But he was always an awesome dog, even when the baby came (and even when he chewed a container of greasy Lansinoh breast cream all over our brand new carpet!) He was never weird with Jevin (our son) at all. He instantly took backseat a little bit and was still happy. Even when Daphne came and he got booted from our bed to a dog bed on the floor next to the bed.
He would have made 10 years old in October. About a year ago he started limping his back foot. Turns out he had degenerative myelopathy, a spine disorder that eventually causes paralysis in the hind legs. It got worse and worse, he had to be carried up the stairs and lost bowel control. He just looked so pitiful, poor guy. Today I had to take him in and he died in my arms. It’s been a tear filled day here in the Hayes house. He was definitely a good boy! Picture from this morning.
