Our Dog BeeGee had plenty to teach us, December 1, 2020

 

This is a photograph of BeeGee. My youngest son Bob brought this puppy home from the Pet Store on Queen Street which was just around the corner from our home in Toronto. Three days later the oldest son Greg brought a kitten home from the same store. BeeGee and Septima (the kitten) were inseparable chasing each other all over the house for two wild weeks. Finally they settled down and realized that they would be sharing with the four of us for the foreseeable future.

                                                              Scarborough Beach Blvd.

BeeGee went to obedience school because we were told that was the thing to do. Septima purred around the house and danced to her own tune without the advanced education that BeeGee was commanded to absorb. I didn't like the program and I think BeeGee hated it. Could the trainer's technique be alien to the breed? I suppose BeeGee's aggressive behaviour could have been choked out of him by the chain around his neck. However, no one in our family was willing to put in the time and BeeGee must have been relieved when this torturous training stopped.

Don't get me wrong; BeeGee had his quiet moments, even when he was young. He could sit still for awhile and seemed to be content. I liked to see that in him; but I also liked to see him run like the wind chasing a bird or retrieving a thrown ball. On one of his wild runs he ripped through our hallway to greet the person climbing our front steps; he was running out of control and slid head-long into a beautiful piece of stained glass splitting it in three pieces. Luckily it didn't shatter and he wasn't hurt. So the glass was never repaired, and he never lost his footing when running to greet someone at the front door again. We lived a stone's throw from Lake Ontario with its' beach and boardwalk where and when these fun-filled moments where possible. I think BeeGee loved it when he was free to run like all-get-out. His ancestry and he were bred for it. I now think that he had other attributes.

I think that his was an unconditional love for all of us especially if you gave him some undivided attention. When I look back I can't say that I was overly generous in this regard. Bob and Greg were good that way. Ours was a normal home consisting of two parents, two sons, a dog and a cat, and one goldfish. That's seven - in latin it's Septima - and Greg called it a great name for the cat.

As we all grew older, some of us slowed down a bit. The boys left home to attend University, shortly thereafter Anne Marie left home to start a new life returning to single-status. My brother Arch moved in with me and BeeGee and Septima. The years passed as my hair grew grey and then to white; the knees and hips weakened; BeeGee slowed down and Septima was delivered to Greg in Quebec City. Now there were three of us.

BeeGee was eighteen years old when his body started failing him but he soldiered on with Arch at home and me still selling printing and generally doing okay. But life was changing which it always does and one day Arch called me and said he thought it was time to go to the veterinarian for the final time. The three of us did what BeeGee needed and in ten minutes there was two of us going home. BeeGee had helped all of us grow in character and in life. He was a wonderful gift when some of us didn't realize the value he brought to our lives.

When I look into his eyes I see a being who is ready for anything. If he could speak I could hear him saying, "Let's play. Let's eat. Let's go for a run and maybe we'll see a bird or pigeon on the rocks. Are you okay? Did you have a bad day? Come on, let's go; everything will be okay."

Pu is like uncarved wood: it’s the Taoist concept of being effortlessly, naturally one’s truest self. BeeGee never changed when he was with us; he only grew older. He was Pu. I can see that now. 

After two weeks BeeGee and Septima were buddies

Look into BeeGee's eyes; there's Pu