We did one of the hardest things imaginable today. We called the vet and had her come to the house to put Jake to sleep. He'd had a very hard night during which nobody slept much. He was coughing and very restless all night, and was obviously not feeling well this morning. At lunch, when MB let him out, he could barely walk, and couldn't get back up from squatting to do his business. MB had to towel-walk him back into the house. We knew the time was coming, and most likely this year, but we never expected to make the decision this soon. I guess that's the way it always is. The whole process with the vet was calm and peaceful - we knew we'd made the right decision.

Jacob Von Dun, 1990 - 2005

I'm not sure how to eulogize this regal, beautiful dog. I guess I'll just list off some remembrances:

• The ad in the paper that led us to Jake 13 1/2 years ago described him as "gentle, beautiful, obedient". All so very true.
• He was hit by a car when he was around three. He finished his walk. MB spent the night on the dining room floor beside him while he shivered in pain.
• I took to using a tennis racket to launch balls for him in the early days, because otherwise I would wear my throwing arm out trying to wear him out.
• He could fetch the paper. When he felt like it.
• In his old age, he could suddenly look ten years younger when there was pizza in the room.
• He went on a walk, albeit short, yesterday.
• He could bang the hell out of our footboard when chasing rabbits in his sleep. Even though he lost strength in his rear end as he aged, the volume was impressive.
• He went sailing with us once. This was a mistake. One hundred pounds of hound in a small sailboat cockpit is a recipe for sailing disaster. We then spent the night on the boat, and none of us got any sleep. I can still remember sleeplessly looking up into the cockpit from belowdecks and seeing the silhouette of his head turning about in reaction to the myriad night sounds and smells on the lake.
• He had the warmest, softest ears ever.
• In his youth he would chase birds. Birds flying high in the air.
• He had little trouble scaling the 6ft. fence of our first house. Then he'd sit on the front walk and wait for us to come home.
• During a Christmas season years ago he sprang our gate and took his friend "Beau", whom we were dog sitting, for a walk. We tracked them down by following the trail of overturned lawn nativity figures.
• He could swim like a fish.
• He mixed it up with a skunk and lost. Twice. We lost, too.
• He was quite the ear flapper. He'd use ear flapping to get our attention, especially when we were sleeping. Over the years, he developed a stripe across his head from so much ear-flapping.
• He was one hell of a hiker.
• He was never affectionate, but he was always nearby. Always.