The moving finger having writ, moves on.

Home for good, you monster.

So ends our time with Killian, one of the neatest dogs we’ve ever had.
In fact, as far as I’m concerned, he’s probably the neatest dog I’ve ever had, although that’s debatable.
Casey and I certainly covered enough miles — I figured about 1,400.
And I could let Casey run loose; Killian had to be on a leash.
But I don’t remember Casey whapping her tail at me like Killian did.
Killian seemed thrilled to do anything with me at all.
He’d start whapping his tail at me if I so much as showed up.

“The moving finger having writ, moves on.”

Tracy was “my dog” too. Tracy was an alpha dog, and I had to give her the business about who was Boss when she growled at me once.
That settled, we began boogeying a lot. We also covered a lot of miles.
Killian was a special case: a rescue dog who had already been tossed out of at least one home — we were told two.
He was a nervous wreck when we got him, but toned down with time.
Nevertheless, every boarding was “here we go again.”
I remember seeing him once in a boarding-pen at the Honeoye Falls Vet; I was given the anxious look.
So every time we brought him home after boarding he was just thrilled.
He’d run all over our house like a loose cannon checking out all the rooms.
Then he’d zoom into our backyard like a bolt of lightning carrying one of his duck-toys in his mouth.
We buried him with two of his favorite toys, his goose and his raccoon.
I don’t think his previous owners understood his nature, which was to be an enthusiastic hunter like all field-setters.
But we did.
At least 13 rabbits were snagged, along with countless moles, chipmunks, and field-mice.
I think he was happy here — probably because we encouraged him to be himself.

(Photos by the so-called “old guy” with the dreaded and utterly reprehensible Nikon D100.)

“Killian” was our dog. He had lymphatic cancer, and didn’t survive. —He was over 10; we never knew his birthdate. Other dogs we’ve had were Casey (our first), Tracy, Sassy and Sabrina. All were Irish Setters; Sabrina was also a rescue-dog.

“Honeoye Falls” is a small town near where we live.

RE: “‘Old guy’ with the dreaded and utterly reprehensible Nikon D100.......” —My macho, blowhard brother-from-Boston, who is 13 years younger than me, calls me “the old guy” as a put-down (I also am the oldest). I also am loudly excoriated by all my siblings for preferring a professional camera (like the Nikon D100) instead of a point-and-shoot. This is because I long ago sold photos to nationally published magazines.