Rolie Polie

Last night, I received a phone call I have been dreading. Rolex, my dog, passed away.

He has been living with my friend and old roommate, Misti, since Barrett was born. Rolex didn't adjust well to the new sibling, so Misti happily took him back. Even though he was 12 and a half years old, he was doing really well until recently. He had been having occasional seizures, but this week he had been back to his old perky self. Last night, he started breathing funny, so Misti held him as he died. She said the whole process only took about thirty minutes, so I am thankful that he didn't seem to suffer much.

This morning, Misti and I met at Doug's parent's house, and Doug's dad, Allen, buried him for us under a big tree by the pasture. It breaks my heart to even be writing this. So, even though this blog is usually all about Barrett, I want to take a few moments to tell my favorite Rolex memories.

Rolex was a Christmas gift when I was a sophomore in college. My grandma, Mimi, did NOT like animals. My parents actually sent her to look at dogs for me, so she went to a shih-tzu breeder near her house in Conroe. When she got there, the breeder kept showing her all the show quality puppies while this older puppy followed both women around. Mimi asked about him, and the lady said he was no good. He was a runt, and he didn't have good markings. Mimi said it didn't even take a second, and she knew that was the puppy for me. Mimi, like me, had a thing for the underdogs. (No pun intended!) When I was given Rolex that Christmas at Mimi's house, my younger cousins all thought that the critter dropped into my chair was a skunk. I was thrilled not only to have an adorable puppy, but also that Mimi let him in the house. Up until she sold the lakehouse, I think Rolex was the only dog she ever allowed in her house.

When Rolex was little, I lived in various apartments. When you live in apartment complexes that allow dogs in a college town, you NEVER walk in the grass. College students would never carry pooper scoopers! So, I would normally walk along the curb. It didn't take long for Rolex to learn from me. I had the only dog that would walk along the curb or sidewalk and not step in the grass. Even 12 years later, he still only put his front paws in the grass to pee. I was always embarrassed as his stream of pee ran down the sidewalk.

While Doug and I talked about Rolex this morning, Doug actually admitted he liked the little guy. (This was a HUGE moment for me!) Doug laughed as he recalled his all time favorite Rolex moment.

Rolex had a thing for soap. He always got into the tub and chewed it up. When Doug and I were dating, Rolex got into the tub again. When I noticed the chewed up soap pieces, I picked them up and thought nothing of it. I was just irritated that I would have to buy more soap again. Then later that night, Rolex started that awful sound dog's make before they puke. He did it a few times with no throw up, so I really figured he had some sort of cough. Then, it happened. Rolex puked up bubbles. I don't mean a few, there were bubbles everywhere. Doug was laughing so hard that he was no help. Finally Rolex finished, and I had mounds of bubbles all over my room. It was the cleanest throw up I ever had to clean up. (it's a shame Barrett's isn't like that too!- refer to yesterday's post.) Amazingly, Rolex still ate soap after that.

I could go on and on about Rolex. He was a great dog. He was able to make people happy when no one else could, he went to school every day the past 5 months with Misti and tolerated her special needs students pawing at him, he snuggled when you needed it, and he knew when to hide. He will be missed by so many people.



I hope Rolex finds Mimi in heaven. I'm sure she'll let him in her house there too!