Riley — MEGAN AWAY

Happy Wednesday!

Monday was a holiday for Australia Day (which was on Saturday). Tj and I had a great weekend. We did a day trip, watched a lot of tennis, and on Monday we cooked a lot. We made two huge pots of soup to last us all week. Yes, I know it's the middle of summer, but we like soup haha. We made an Italian wedding soup with meatballs just for Tj, and I made a summer vegetable soup recipe I found online. Unfortunately, my soup is not the greatest LOL. And now I have a huge pot to finish. Maybe if I top it off with some cheese and add some more spices it won't be so bad.

On Friday we got some sad news that my dad's dog Riley died. It sounds like it was very peaceful for him, he died at home lying next to my dad, and I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

Riley was obsessed with my dad! If he left the room, Riley would pace around, whining at the door until he came back. Those two went everywhere together. I don't even know how many times they've done the drive to PEI, but Riley had a pretty prime spot in the new truck and I feel sorry for anyone who had to sit back there with him. Not only would they get half the space of the dog, but they'd also be covered in Riley's dog hair.

Riley was not a friend of small animals, especially gophers!

As for other dogs, Riley tolerated them. His best dog friend was probably Daisy. Penny was scared of him.

My dog Jack idolized Riley. Riley would snarl at him and show his teeth and Jack would keep trying to lick his face. When Jack was a puppy we would take them to the dog park together. Jack would try to keep up with Riley and would always stay close to him. Riley didn't like Jack, but he didn't like other dogs playing with him for too long. As Jack got a bit bigger they started having a little system. They would look at each other and I swear, it seemed like they counted to three and they charged at whatever dog they saw ahead. Then they would each take turns trying to mount the poor other dog. They were so bad!

There was an incident at Christmas one year where we left Jack at my dad's house with Riley during dinner. We don't talk about the night of blood on the floor, but let's just say that Jack is still missing a part of his ear.

There was another incident where we were on our way to the dog park and Riley may or may not have silently convinced Jack to jump out of a moving vehicle.

But no joke, Jack would go nuts whenever my dad drove up just dying to see Riley. He was probably as obsessed with Riley as Riley was obsessed with my dad hahaha.

My mom would say she hated Riley, but she didn't. It was just creepy because he looked so similar to our old dog Mac! It was weird! When Riley would run in the house (probably trying to get away from Jack) she would sneak him treats.

Riley was a very handsome dog and my dad would often get compliments on him. He did this thing too, where we would climb to the top of a big rock and pose, like a model dog. One time my dad walked past someone in the street who said his beard matched his dog hahaha. So true though.

One of my favourite Riley memories was sitting in the truck with him when a fire truck drove past and he went nuts. He howled along with the sirens! It was so cute.

Losing a pet is losing a family member. When we put Mac down, he was over 17 years old! That was older than Jacob at the time. I had known my dog longer than my brother. It was rough. It was such a lifestyle change. I was waking up several times a night to let him out to pee, or help him on the couch. And suddenly he was gone.

Pets are special because you get to see their whole lives, from when he was a tiny puppy to a crazy dog, and finally, an old man dog who smelled bad and always wanted belly scratches. And I was glad Mac didn't have to suffer, but it was just so weird not to have to care for him anymore, and not to hear the sound of his nails when he walked around the hardwood floors.

I'm sure my dad will be sad for a little while. When Mac died my friend Jenn gave me a card that said sorry for the loss of your pet. It was such a thoughtful gesture because I didn't even know they made those kinds of cards. And it had a lovely little poem in it. I couldn't find the exact one, but here is something nice I found on Pinterest: