When I first laid eyes on him he was no bigger than a minute. A tiny ball of grey and black fur, his eyes sealed shut and his pink nose and tiny tongue oozing that beautiful scent that only puppies give off. Half great dane, half blue healer, all adorableness. He was one of several and he was so special! His mottled coat and sweet personality completely won my heart and of the litter he was the one I fell in love with. It was a love that never wavered or faded and tonight, as I listened to my daddy's voice on my voice mail explaining how he found him dead and how my brother in law helped to burry him, I felt a piece of my heart die too. Camo was so much more than just a dog. My fierce protector, my constant confidant, my loyalest friend. His coat caught a thousand tears! His ears bore the brunt of many teenage heartbreaks. His tongue kissed away the sadness and made me giggle so many times! Once, when he was probably 3 yrs old or so, we were playing ball and he somehow managed to get a tennis ball lodged in his throat. It was sheer panic on my part for a bit but somehow I managed to keep my wits about me long enough to perform the Himeliche (sp?) and get it out of his air way. Ever after that tennis balls were NOT allowed outside! Another time, when I was practicing batting, I accidentally hit him in the head with the bat! I would hit the ball and he would run and retrieve it and somehow he got too close and I got him with the bat. I felt AWFUL and that was the end of that sport because he would no longer come around me when I had a bat! Smart dog :) I have always said that if he were human Camo would be the perfect male. Sweet, handsome, loyal, gentle, kind, considerate (he used to carefully carry his food dish out to the pasture every day for this little stray mutt that would come around. He didn't eat any food for like 3 days or something until I finally realized what he was doing and started putting his food in a concrete dish so he couldn't take it out for her) affectionate, adoring and completely amazing with kids! That was Camo's most valuable trait. He always did absolutely excellent with kids! They could beat him, ride him, pull his ears, kick him, throw stones at him, bite him, or anything else they could come up with and he would simply patiently endure it. A few times, when it had been several hours of non stop roughness, he got up and walked away from them. But for the most part he simply did whatever they wanted him to to make them happy.
Today, my dad and brother in law buried a dog. They also buried a friend, a protector, and a family member. With him, they buried a bit of all our hearts.
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