My dog, Ike, passed away this week at the very ripe age of 13 years old.  He’d been a member of my family for more than a third of my life–first when I lived at home with my parents and then when I left and started a family of my own. He was very sick and his last few days were rough, so I’m glad he’s finally at peace.

Today my house feels empty without him.  He’s not in his bed snoring loud enough to be heard two rooms away.  He’s not wagging his little ass by my feet, waiting for me to scratch his butt. He’s not under the kitchen table, looking to gobble up the kids’ bountiful leftovers.  He’s not peeing on the deck or humping someone’s leg or doing any of the crazy stuff that sometimes drove me nuts.

It’s so hard to believe he’s not here anymore.

Instead of depressing you (and myself) anymore than I might already have, I’d rather celebrate everything that was wonderful about him.  He was a very sweet, very funny dog.  There was something so….hilariously unenthusiastic about the way he lived his life.  If you have ever met a lazy English Bulldog, you probably know what I mean.

So here are some of my favorite memories and pictures of my sweet little Ikey:

• He was the laziest dog on earth.  My father always said he was “two steps away from a stuffed animal”.  My uncle once called him a “slug with legs”.  When I took him to the dog park, he’d lie in the grass and watch the other dogs run around until he fell asleep. This picture’s not at the dog park, but it might as well have been.

• He hated cats.  When he was younger, all you had to do was say “go get the cat!”, whether there was a cat nearby or not, and he’d go crazy.  He actually knocked the screen door off its hinges at my parents’ house a few times trying to get at this mythical cat we’d always been training him to attack.
• He was the perfect footrest for my kids, and he didn’t mind one bit. FYI, he was a great foot-warmer too.

• In the winter, whenever it was so cold that even the sidewalks were sheets of ice, I used to put on his leash and tell him we were going “Ike Skating”.  I’m so clever.

• Is this not the best doggie photobomb ever?

• Also the best toddler nap partner ever.

•  He could get comfortable anywhere.  I call this picture “Ikezilla”.

• He was as kid-friendly as they come.

•  He was such a little fatass.  He NEVER missed a meal in his life.  Even in his final days, when he could barely walk or see or hear at all, he would still manage to sniff his way over to his bowl and scarf down whatever yumminess we put in there for him.  I always said that I would know his time was up when he passed on a piece of chicken. That finally happened fifteen minutes before his last visit to the vet.

My life won’t be the same without my Ikey boy, but I know it was his time to go.  He defied the odds that were stacked against him as an English Bulldog, having lived a very long, healthy and happy life.  I can feel nothing less than blessed to have been his mommy.  I will miss him forever.