OkcPets Magazine May 2023

18 OKC Pets • May / June 2023 Often, Jim and I would find Tag snug- gled against Howie for a nap. Using Howie as his personal jungle gym as he climbed onto the senior dog’s back, tumbled under his neck, or pounced on his tail. Tag would use the harness Howie wore for mo- bility assistance as his personal chew toy. He would invite himself to share Howie’s special bed. He would even bring toys to share with Howie. We watched their relationship blossom as the puppy continued to charm the gruff old man. Autumn and spring came together to form an unlikely but undeni- able bond. Just the Beginning Time marched along. On April 5, 2022, we happily celebrated Howie’s sixteenth birthday. On May 20, 2022, we lovingly eased Howie out of the body that was no longer cooperating. You might think this is where the story of Howie and Tag ends. You would be wrong. Delightfully, magically wrong. Immediately following Howie’s passing, Tag claimed the old dog’s position on the bed, sleeping snuggled against my legs and feet. Now you might think he was just taking over a vacated, comfy position, but Howie never had slept on the bed with me during Tag’s little lifetime. With his declining mobility, I had worried that Howie might fall off the bed during the night. Months earlier, I had helped him transition from his lifelong place alongside me to a new sleeping spot on a soft cushion beside the bed. Tag had never slept at my feet while Howie was still alive, preferring instead to sprawl out across the middle of the bed. And then came the day I walked into our dog room to find that Tag had hopped on top of the bin where I store our dog food. Seeing him standing there, looking at me very expectantly, stopped me in my tracks. This was the place where Howie had decided, of his own accord, to eat all his meals for most of his life until the two- foot leap became too high for old joints to manage. This tradition was uniquely Howie’s and had also come to a halt well before Tag was even born. Tag had seen no demonstration; he had had no teacher. Yet there he stood. Howie’s spot was now shared by Tag. The Howie-isms that Tag seemed to have somehow inherited continued. I would find him waiting for me, curled on the bath mat outside of the shower, just as Howie had. I would pull into our long driveway to see a familiar spotted face watching me from the backyard. It had al- ways been a comfort to see Howie there to welcome me, instinctively knowing when I would pull through the gate. Now it was Tag turning to race through the dog door to be the first to greet me at the front door. And then Tag stood atop Jim as he did repairs beneath the kitchen sink, just as Howie had so many years before. A Time To Learn Maybe it can all be explained away as coincidence. After all, the two dogs are very different in every other way. Howie was reserved and even in puppyhood, a bit of a serious soul. He was my protector, dignified and steady, only revealing his soft side to a select few humans. Tag, on the other hand, has a huge per- sonality. He is silly, playful, and mischie- vous. He’s a bit of a handful, but in a de- lightfully innocent manner. And he has a sense of humor that keeps us laughing and guessing what his next antic will bring. What I love to believe about Tag’s knack for knowing Howie-isms is that during their time together, during all of those shared snuggles, the old dog was quietly instructing the puppy. “Look, kid,” Howie would say in a patient voice, “I don’t have much time left here, and I need you to take over a job for me — our human over there, she’s going to need you.” I imagine the adorable puppy cock- ing his head in that cute back-and-forth cadence as he listened carefully to Howie’s instructions. “Don’t try to be me, just re- mind her of me. Let her know I picked you to carry on where I must leave off.” And that is exactly what Tag has done. He is very much his own personality, but the little familiar behaviors that surface here and there give my heart a warm squeeze and remind me that Howie took care of me one last time by picking out a puppy to carry on his important work. There is nothing I love more than drift- ing off to sleep with that familiar, secure warmth against my feet that will now provide comfort for so many more years to come. And if you wonder about the origin of Tag’s name, well, that’s Howie’s doing too — Tag, you’re it. Thanks, Howie, you taught him very well. Dr. Virginia A. Schultz 9225 5. 1-35 Service Rd., Oklahoma City, OK 73160 (405) 616-EYES (3937) Fax (405) 631-3937 E Y E C A R E C L I N I C F O R A N I M A L S FreetoLiveOK 20 acres and second chances for dogs and cats 405.282.8617 FreetoLiveOK.org Providing mobile ultrasound services to local veterinarians in their hospital (405) 742-7787 ovdionline@gmail.com https://ovdionline.com/ Dr. Jennifer Neitman, DVM, DACVR 405-256-7043 | By Appointment Only 107 S. Castle Rock Lane | Mustang, OK thechisolmtails@gmail.com