He was a Good Boy

He had been found in the woods, left there when he was a one-year-old until he was rescued by the Humane Society. They figured he had been sold as a Jack Russell, but as he grew the owners quickly saw he was a mixed mutt and dumped him. When we first met him, he was cowering in the back of a small cage that also held two larger dogs. He seemed scared but sweet. We adopted him and soon found that he needed a large backyard like ours to run in because he had two speeds: wide open and asleep. Because of his bouncy, energetic personality, we named him Popcorn. He came with some baggage we discovered... When we left for school and work, he thought we were abandoning him. He shredded welcome mats, the seats and handlebars on a bicycle, newspapers, whatever he could find to deal with his stress. But eventually he figured out that we would always come home again, and his destructive behavior stopped. He LOVED balls, particularly the large, soft kind like you can find at the grocery store as well as tennis balls. He would chase them for hours, never seeming to tire. He also had plenty of "hunter" in him, and would chase anything in the yard, particularly squirrels. Once I found a possum in a death pose he had gone after; I soon discovered that it wasn't dead but only in a trance - I don't know who was more surprised, me or him! He was also my daily walking companion as we explored the neighborhood through each of the seasons. At 16, he was on multiple daily medications and in constant pain. He stopped chasing balls and squirrels; our walks became more painful than pleasurable. He was suffering... This morning we took him to the vet, who put him to sleep while I held him in my arms. Popcorn was a good boy and I will miss him terribly.