Thursday, April 4, 2013

Jeffie was a Cush Dog

Jeffie was a Cush Dog.  Not familiar with the term?  You can read about it in a guest post from the Dog Daddy here.  Its sort of along the lines of an heir and a spare.  

A Cush Dog provides a cushion, a soft landing, when the loss of another dog makes you feel you've hit rock bottom.

I resolved years ago to never be without a Cush Dog.  When my beloved Benji died, Sherman was my Cush Dog.  I was heartbroken and the very best comfort to be had was from Shermie.  In fact, that's when the Dog Daddy's no-dogs-in-the-bed rule was first broken.  As I cried myself to sleep, I hauled Shermie into bed (on only my side, of course) and we grieved together.

In 2006, it dawned on me that I had a problem.  Tucker and Lucy had become senior dogs and they were only 6 months apart in age.   Okay, I also will confess that I had the puppy fever.  

I almost always have the puppy fever, but in this case, I had another good reason for beginning the process of adding another dog to our family.  I needed a Cush Dog.

My hunt began.  As I surfed Petfinder and read the newspaper ads, I waited for that feeling.  The one that tells you this is the one.  

There came a day when there was a lemon yellow, Lab looking puppy that called to me.  When called, the shelter told us that Joe had 2 siblings with him, his mother was a Golden Retriever, and they'd been picked up as strays.  Joe was the only one listed on Petfinder.

Gary took off work early that day and off we headed to Dogwood Animal Shelter to adopt Joe.

Joe turned out to be a very pushy, dominant personality, pup.  The Dog Daddy was smitten, but I found it hard to imagine Tucker and Lucy being too thrilled.  As we played with all three of these puppies in the shelter's puppy room, it was another of the puppies that began to work his way into my heart.  

"Stevie," as they called him, was much more Golden Retriever in appearance, and much more laid back than Joe.  And, every once in awhile, "Stevie" talked to me with little puppy grunts.

I had a feeling that "Stevie" was the one and thank dog I did!


Dog names are important to us and the name "Stevie" was rejected.  After much discussion, this puppy was named Jefferson.

You can see the resemblance, right?
My very favorite memory of Jeffie's puppy-hood is a sort of mental collage of all the early mornings we spent together. 



I'm an early riser and Jeffie is a spring puppy.  Sunrise would find us together outside.  Sitting on the back porch steps, we enjoyed birdsong and the smell of flora and grass.  Jeffie might be in my lap or he might venture off to playfully explore the world nearby.

 



It was a deliciously sweet time of life.
Very fitting for my sweet boy, Jeffie.


We're celebrating Jeffie's 7th birthday all month long here at Talking Dogs.  Did you get the invitation to his party?   Have you entered to win some Monkey Earrings from For Love of a Dog and a "monkey" (dog toy) for your dog?  
C'mon!  Join the party!

21 comments:

  1. I know the idea, but never heard the term. We've been thinking about getting a third dog, not just for us, but for Katy. She'll never survive being alone and the adoption rules are pretty strict after you lose one. That being said, I think I'm over puppy fever. I'd like one about the same age as Katy was when we got her from rescue.

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    1. I highly recommend a cush dog for Katy. Rudy was that for Rudy when we lost Tucker and Lucy last year. Jeffie would go and sit at their graves and Rudy would come up, play bow and get him "lively" again. :-)

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  2. Thank you for sharing such sweet memories with all of us. My mom just wants to reach into the computer and scoop out puppy Jeffie...what a floofy, cuddly pup!

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    1. Thank you! I just regret that I didn't get it together to request a limerick for Jeffie!

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  3. I got all of my guys as adults so I missed all those cute puppy moments. Well, maybe I didn't actually *miss* some of them.

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    1. We've only had one difficult puppy: Rudy. And though some of our dogs joined us as adults, I've found it easier to induce puppy fever in my husband than "adult dog fever." :-)

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  4. "cush dog" I just love that term. I am completely smitten with the last photo. Jeffie is truly one of the most handsome dogs I have ever seen! I also MUCH PREFER his name to "Stevie" Ready for this? Dakota's original name was "Tanner" it didn't suit him AT ALL!

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    1. Thank you :-) Tanner? Oh no, Dakota is just not a Tanner at all!! I didn't mind Stevie so much as it just didn't seem to fit. The shelter was calling Rosie "Reece" which I don't get at all.

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  5. This is a beautiful post. It is important to consider how other pets will feel, too. You are obviously wonderful pet parents!

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    1. Thank you so much! We're far from perfect, but we try :-)

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  6. Gizmo is a cush dog, coming after the loss of Bruno, who was a cush dog, coming after the loss of Murphy...and so on...In a way all my dogs have been cush dogs...I love that term!

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    1. I suppose, in some ways, all dogs are cush dogs. They make a huge difference in life and dealing with grief, don't they.

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  7. Awwww, this post brought a tear to my eye Sue. I have no idea what I'll do if we ever lose Felix. (Yes, I say if. I maintain he is immortal.) Happy Birthday Jeffy!

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    1. No matter how long we have them with us... it is never enough time.

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  8. What a heartwarming story and fantastic pic! My favourite is the 4th.

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  9. Such a cute puppy! He's lucky he gets to pawty all month long!

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  10. Aw! I never heard the term cush dog before and I like it! Now I know thayt Sherman was my cush dog!

    Love all the pictures:)

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  11. What a wonderful story! You are so absolutely adorable in those puppy photos, Jeffie! I think Jeffie is a much better name than Stevie. I never considered the term cush dog before but I've done it subconsciously. Maya (originally Dixie) was my cush dog. When Sephi died recently, I was heartbroken. Maya really helped me through it. Now Pierson is the cush dog for when Maya passes on.

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  12. And here I thought a cush dog was an easy dog to train. LOL

    This was a lovely post Sue.

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  13. Aw, such adorable puppy photos!

    Tavish is my current cush dog. Bella turned 11 (we think) last year, and I think that her age combined with some health issues she was having drove my desire to have a cushion as well.

    Also, I'm with Jodi. Can't they just be immortal?

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