Rest In Peace Happy. We Love You.

I usually don't post on this site about my personal life but today I am going to make an exception. This will be my only post until Monday.

Yesterday was a very sad day in our household. Unfortunately my lovely wife and I had to have our beloved dog put down. His name was Happy. We were fortunate enough to be able to adopt our wonderful dog from the Ottawa Humane Society at the age of 10. He was given to me as an anniversary present by my wife (then my girlfreind) for our third year together. I have always said he is the best present I have ever received or ever will receive. His previous owner had passed away, but the good folks at the OHS realized that Happy was in such great shape and was so good natured that somebody would adopt him. After five years with him I am proud and privileged to say we were those people. When we adopted him we really only expected to have him for about three years, so we are thrilled to be able to say that he was with us for five years. We like to think he was named for the happiness he brought to everyone who met him.

In our completely unbiased opinion he was the greatest dog in the world. Though we often joked that if we were his original owners he would not have been so well behaved. All of our friends realize what a big part of our everyday life he was. He was extremely good natured and kind and playful with everyone. I can honestly say that in the entire time we had him he never once growled at anybody in anger (the same can't be said about other dogs who tried to steal his beloved ball however). In our old neighbourhood of Centretown he was a minor celebrity. Because we took him for three long walks a day, four or five in nice weather, he got to know all the locals who would always stop to pet him. Many people we didn't even know would stop us and ask if he was Happy because they had heard about our great dog from their friends. We often joked that he was "The Mayor of Centretown". He made a lot of dog friends in Centretown including Bandit and his best pal Lou.

A few of our friends dog sat Happy and decided after looking after him that they wanted their own dog hoping their dog would be as happy and good natured as Happy. In that sense his legacy will live on. He was already neutered when we got him so we don't know if he ever had any puppies of his own. Though we like to think he was quite the ladykiller back in the day. Happy was known to take full adavantage of his sitters though. One carried him up the three flights of stairs in her walk up apartment because he gave her his puppy dog eyes. Another was awaken one morning by him and our two cats very early. She showered, walked him, and fed all three only to realize that it was just 5:30am. She then went back to bed, slept in and was late for work. He was also liked by many of our friends and family members who didn't even like dogs, which says a lot about him.

Happy will be dearly missed by our two cats Ophelia and Otis. Ophelia was pretty skeptical about the dog at first then warmed up to him very quickly their first winter together. She realized that his furry belly was a great heat source and was also very comfy. From then on she would regularly take naps with him and sleep with her head pressed up against his belly like a pillow. Otis may miss him most of all, he absolutely idolized Happy. He was amazed by his great ball playing abilities, and was extremely jealous of Happy's ability to go outside multiple times a day and soak up mother nature. Otis and Happy slept together in Happy's bed at the foot of our bed nearly every night. They also used to talk to each other all the time. I'd love to now what they said but it will have to remain between them. Our house will be a much quieter place now.

We were fortunate enough to be able to take Happy many places with us including holidays in New Hampshire, where everybody petted him, gave him ice cream, and asked what kind of dog he was (he was a mutt, but mostly terrier). Weekends in Lake Placid at a B&B that allowed dogs where he made friends with the owner's dog Linus. And Mont Tremblant where he got to run in the Daible river. And of course many Christmas' with our families in Toronto. One Christmas, couscous was made but dropped on the floor which delighted Happy as he ate what became known as "the festive couscous".

In our current neighbourhood Happy also made great doggy friends such as Martini, CJ, Jack and Abbey. Even when he slowed down the last few months he wagged his tail with excitement each time he saw them.

Our memories of Happy are endless but some of our favorites are playing ball with him in Rockcliffe Park, walks with him along the Rideau Canal and River, his love of frisbees, playing ball in my wife's parents backyard in Oakville non-stop for hours one afternoon (we are still wondering where that energy came from), the "let's get this over with" look on his face each time we attempted to give him a bath, his cute little ears perking up every time he heard something interesting, taking him to dog day at the Ottawa Lynx baseball games, and of course our literally thousands of walks together, especially our bedtime walks which were officially known as "boy bonding time".

Happy, you brought us nothing but joy and happiness for five years. You were the greatest dog we could have ever had. You were not just a dog, you were the dog. You were my best buddy. We love you very much and you will always be in our hearts.



A special Thank You to all our friends at the Glebe Pet Hospital who helped take such great care of Happy.