There are so many stories that I still want to tell about P- . P- was an amazing golden retriever. So many great memories together. A part of me worries that I would forget them.

1. The Missing Raw Hides – one time, I came home from school and P- was chatting up a storm. P- never barked. Instead, he talks. It’s a mumble sound. hrrm hrrm. Usually, it only lasts a couple of seconds. Never more. But that day, P- was talking for what seemed like hours.

Well it turns out that Beanpole had a busy morning. She was mailing some packages and scheduled a UPS front door pickup. In other words, a UPS man dropped by our house and picked up a package from our doorstep.

Unbeknownst to us, P-‘s raw hides were delivered the same day and was left on our front door. Hijinks ensues. The UPS man took P-‘s raw hides.

No wonder, P- was upset. hrrm hrrrm hrrrm

2.  A New Friend – Beanpole, P-, and I went to Russian River for vacation. There really is nothing to do in Russian River. We will never go back. But P- made the best of it and we met a new friend.

Beanpole, P-, and I were hiking along a river that ran behind our cabin. Following the river, we spotted a dog. He was a funny looking dog but he was friendly. We weren’t sure if he was a stray but at the time, we didn’t think any dog would hurt P- since he was so sweet so we just kept walking with the dog following us.

After walking for a bit, we rested and then P- started digging. P- loved to dig when he is on vacation since he never gets to dig when he is at home. P- never looked around when he digs and BAM, the other dog was covered with dirt. It wasn’t dry dirt either. Since we were by the riverbed, the dirt was wet and sticky. When P- was done, the dog looked like a hot mess.

We walked back along the river and the dog went home.

The next day, we went back to the riverbed and walked along the river. As we walked, we heard a loud bark. We looked around and saw a house with a glass door. Behind the glass door was the dog that we met yesterday except he was all cleaned up. He barked and barked. It was a playful bark — like he wanted to come out and play.

More troubling, however, was the owner who was standing next to his dog. To this day, we wondered if he knew that it was our dog that got his dog all dirty.

3. Birthday Party – one year, we threw a birthday party for P. We invited all of his friends. When the time for the party arrived, we waited for our guests to arrive. P- knew that something was going on because we had decorations up and food.

P- looked sad because there wasn’t anyone at the house. Tick Tock. Time seemed to pass so slow as we stared at the clock. Beanpole and I was also sad because we weren’t sure if anyone would come.

We took P- to the backyard and gave him some toys to play with, to ease his mind but P- was still stiffed and looked concern. We reassure him that his friends would come. we waited and waited for what seemed like eternity.

Then the first guest arrived. Followed by a steady steam of guests with presents. P- perked up and we had a great time.