In Memoriam: A tribute to our beloved Nitro

Photo taken in April at the place he loved the most….

The Lake House

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NITRO

August 30, 2000 – June 16, 2015

Our beloved dog son who became our family member almost 15 years ago….has passed away.

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Please indulge me…I need to share my grief and sadness with you today.

In some way, I feel this would honor the treasured life of our canine son.

When I hear someone nonchalantly say to me….”But he was just a dog, not a human being.”

My indignant answer is this:  “Without question, you are most definitely and grossly mistaken.  No, he was not…just a dog. He was absolutely – in every sense of the word – a huge and important part of our family.”

Nitro was a life that was created by God.

Just because he was born with fur and a long tail, that fact does not – for one moment – diminish or lessen his importance to our daily lives.

Our hearts are heavy with our loss… but full of love and gratitude that our Nitro lived his life with our family.

And he enjoyed an ‘almost’ perfectly healthy life until the morning of his last day.  For that, we will be forever grateful.

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My younger dog son, Buddy, is in mourning for his best friend and brother.

  He stares at the front door waiting for Nitro to return from the ‘longest walk ever’…or so he must be thinking.

Normally, when there’s a drop of rain, Buddy runs to our bedroom closet for safety. But yesterday, it poured and thundered…and our Buddy remained on the first floor waiting for the front door to open.  And for Nitro to walk in and greet him, as always.

Buddy doesn’t know a world without his Nitro.

And for that matter, neither do we.

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In his honor, allow me to share my original post introducing Nitro – back in March – when I first began my blog.

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Wyld Wings Nitro Express.

My oldest dog son was named after a bullet… the day he was born at Wyld Wings Kennel.

The Nitro Express cartridges are used in rifles to hunt big-game (such as an elephant).

The use of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine gives us the Nitro part of the name, and the Express stems from the high velocity of the bullet- just like an express train.

The Nitro Express is a really big deal.

That’s my dog, alright.

 

In 2000, our family drove over an hour to a well-known and respected Labrador Retriever kennel. Wyld Wings was known for their pure bloodlines of thoroughbred hunting dogs.

Unfortunately, Nitro’s elite lineage was a tad wasted. We coddled him into a family pet. He sleeps on a memory foam tempurpedic mattress and is lovingly tucked in each night with a terrycloth robe as a blanket.

Nitro has been indulged with birthday parties complete with gifts.  And he gets an ice cream treat after each doctor visit. For Christmas, he received his very own blue fleece coat for winter walks.

But make no mistake, despite his pampered life, our yellow lab remains a most regal and sophisticated canine. On hunting trips with his human dad – his instinctual, retrieval skills surface. Without exception, the entire hunting party is impressed by Nitro’s discipline and accuracy.

His pedigree is much more impressive than the lineage of the humans who adopted him. Distinguished and registered ancestry fill his familial heritage. His father was featured on national television during the ESPN dog trials. And his mother was a champion in Texas as well.

Nitro is, undoubtedly, handsome and during his younger days, extremely athletic. He is loyal and obedient. And Nitro possesses an extensive command vocabulary. Our beloved Nitro is a model dog son.

Ni-dog, my nickname for him, is the first dog that I truly fell in love with…since I have always been a bona fide cat-person. He loves to be petted, but not hugged. In fact, when I hug him too much for too long, I can hear his audible ‘sigh’.

My husband is, undeniably, his master. It was clear from the beginning who captured his loyalty and would forever be his favorite human on earth.

And as much as it pains me to admit this in writing, I am not Nitro’s second favorite person either. My younger son is.

Our Ni-dog was born almost 15 years ago. With the average life span of labs being 10-12 years, we realize exactly how fortunate we have been. I only hope when I’m 102 years old (Nitro’s human age), I will be able to go on mile-long walks with my family, still get overly happy at the smell of peanut butter or cheese, and find uncontrollable joy at the first sight of a tennis ball.