Another Airedale Angel

Hello, again! Please forgive my long absence from this; it's been a hectic few weeks. Once again, after my long time away, I come back with sad news - our second dog, Micah, went to Heaven today :-(

He had been struggling for a little while now. His heart had gotten enlarged, so his chest started getting bigger, too. His breathing wasn't the greatest, and you could just tell each day he was a little more tired. So different from the puppy brought home a few months after our first Airedale, Amos.

Micah was a mouthy, mouthy little ball of fluff! The first night we got him, he was just sassin' everyone, including Amos! He was born from a litter of about 3 pups, and he was the only survivor. His parents were also Amos's parents, and this litter would be the last for them. The breeder called us, knowing we kind of wanted another dog, and thought we'd be good for Micah. After that call, it was official - we'd have 2 puppies!

While Amos was more quiet and stable, Micah was a little more energetic. If you threw a ball in the house and it bounced against a wall, Amos would stop and turn around; Micah would hit the wall, THEN turn around. He got excited about EVERYTHING - my favourite was when you'd come home, he'd bound to the front hall: "HI! You're home! That's awesome!" He'd run off...then come back again. "Oh, good, you're still home, that's awesome!" He'd run off again, then return a

 third time. "Hurray! You're home for reals! I'm so happy!" If you walked by him while he was laying down, his tail would just start wagging, indicating he was happy you were just simply there.

While Amos had certain foods that he would beg for and disregard all training, Micah just loved food, PERIOD. Before our kitchen was redone, the counters were just at the right height for Airedales to jump up to and grab anything too close to the edge. Many times you'd hear, "MICAH! NO! DROP IT! Awww, man..." as he'd grab what he wanted, swallow it whole, and be done with it before you could fish it out. One time for my sisters birthday we had ice cream cake - as my Mum sat down in front of her piece, Micah jumped and grabbed the entire slice in his mouth. "NO!" my Mum cried, pried his mouth open, and got the piece of ice cream cake back on her plate. Even in his last few weeks, he was still a fan of food.

While he loved us all, he never liked to be hugged too much, or feel confined. If you were near him and he wanted space, he'd let you know by sounding something like a crazed Ewok. He never bit us, but you knew when it was time to move away from him and give him space.

As weird as this will sound, I'll probably miss his toots at some point. Micah had crazy, super-smelly farts - some you heard, others you did not. Yes, dogs also have "Silent but Deadly" ones, and MAN, were they deadly. You could be sitting in a room, with Micah sound asleep, and all of a sudden "snif snif...OH, Mi-CAH! Geez!" Thank goodness puppies never learn what a Dutch Oven is...

He was a smart puppy, just like his brother, but like all siblings, learned at his own speed and in his own way. He never formally went to obedience classes, but because we had Amos well-trained, Micah fell into line pretty quickly. When it came time to learn to go up the stairs and down, it took him awhile, but the night he finally caught on, he spent 20 minutes just going up, then going down, then going up, then going down.

Both Amos and Micah had pretty accurate internal clocks, but Micah had a VERY finely-tuned one, mostly for feeding times. Right around 3:30, 4:00 PM, he'd start to get restless, knowing dinner was soon. No matter what he was doing, or where he was, he'd just KNOW, and make sure you knew what time it was, too!

Neither of the boys liked being crated, so they eventually started whining in the morning, about 5 AM or so. My parents tried collars that spray citrus to keep the noise down, but somehow Micah figured out the exact pitch he could whine at before the collar sprayed. Of course, Amos wasn't a fan of this because his crate was close enough to Micah when the spray went off, Amos got sprayed, too.

Micah had a lust and zest for life that encouraged me to look for that kind of joy in my life, too - mostly in the simple things, but making them the grandest thing ever. He went peacefully, finally being at rest after being in pain. This morning I saw him laying on the kitchen floor before I went to work. I got down beside him, gave him a pat on the head, and told him I loved him. He lifted his head a little, as if to say, "I love you, too, thank you for being part of my life." I then told him he was a good boy, and he settled down to rest again. My parents took him to the vet later that day, and said he went very quickly, which was a blessing.

The house will be a bit quieter, at least for now. We may get another Airedale, or even two more, in the future - but, for now, it's nice to know that even though both our boys are physically no more with us, they are running around, together again, in Heaven. They left us lessons and love that won't be forgotten.

And now, Micah, I say goodbye and thank you for your life with us. You will always be the Micah Micah Boy, no matter what.