The day Duncan came into our lives, we were given the honor of sharing the next 5 ¾ years with the most incredibly special creature that was ever put on this earth. At the time, we had no idea how special he was. That knowledge came over time.
It took several months for him to put all of his fears of abandonment and mistreatment aside, but eventually we were able to convince him that he was truly “home” and would never want for anything ever again. After he really settled in to our home, we got to see the quirks in his personality that made him uniquely Duncan….for example: He was not a toy driven dog at all….he would never play with toys. But a throw rug….? That became the joy of a lifetime. Countless rugs in our house were left crumpled in a lifeless heap after being vanquished by Duncan the Conqueror.
His social side was one of a confident, yet vulnerable dog. He was always the first to say “hello” (read:butt sniff) to another dog, but never tried to dominate. After the greeting, he would move on to other things that interested him more. Most of the time, the things that interested him more were people…especially kids.
Even though we never did field work with him, he was an excellent hunter in the limited venue that we gave him…our yard at home. On way too many occasions, be brought rabbits, mice and pack rats to us as prizes and proof of his hunting prowess. He absolutely LOVED to dig and dirty nails, dirty noses and humongous holes were always the result.
He had
many nicknames; Some were just changed versions of his real name, Duncan: Dunker, Dunk the Hunk, Dunden Dunner, DunCan do anything……….and some were a direct reflection of his behaviors: Mr. Patience because he always waited for his food bowl without any noise, jumping, dancing or drooling. Mr. Reliable because you never had to beg, plead or wait for him to do his business outside. He’d go right out, take care of it and move on. He also invented the Duncan Dance of Joy which was a dust cloud generating, grass clump flying 4-footed dig after every “deposit”. He was also know as the Bama Slammer from his roots in Alabama and his uncanny ability to plant both hisfront feet on your chest when you least expected it. His favorite place to sleep in the house was on the futon for which he also was known as Mr. Futon. He would stretch out and take up the whole thing and no one ever challenged him for an square inch. I remember wondering once if Duncan would ever be able to do agility. We came to the conclusion that he might….but only if there was a futon at the finish line.
His career as a therapy dog was long and very successful. We recertified three times for an almost 6 year span. He was a wonderful physical therapy partner at both Carondolet hospitals in Tucson, but where he really shined was when he was with children. He loved going to school and helping kids read and also he loved helping me teach kids about dog safety. He would quietly lay at my feet while I talked and when his part came, he stood patiently while they swarmed him. He would just stand there in the midst of all sorts of hands, heads, high pitched voices and who knows how many and what kind of smells. He was completely at ease.
His time as competitive performance dog was fairly short. He did get his Companion Dog title 
within a year or so after we adopted him. But it was crystal clear, this was not his first choice on how to spend his time. After AKC Rally became a titling class, I decided he at least needed to finish all of his Rally titles. He did….with many high scores and several placements. But Duncan was above all…a
thinker…and during Rally instruction, I could just see the wheels in his head turning. If he could talk, I know he would’ve asked me to explain to him why…. as a dog, he needed to know how to do a 180 degree left pivot. It just didn’t make sense to him. But he did it for me because he knew it was important to me. Even though, he wasn’t into performing, that’s not to say he wasn’t resourceful……His chart at the vet’s office was marked with the words “ Escape Artist——-Can Open Crate Doors”. He would always give any door or baby gate a good stiff head butt….just to test how secure it was.
Duncan loved to travel and he was always anxious to go in the motor home. Every new place we stopped, he would savor and take EVERYTHING in. He would air scent and then prance with head and tail up in the air. He had a beautiful gait that would rival that of any breed champion.
When we removed his first mast cell tumors in 2005, we knew that the odds were stacking up against us but he remained happy, healthy and strong. So we did all that we could to keep him that way. The second MCT in 2008 was much more serious and because he was still so strong, we decided to let him have whatever time he had left and make it as high quality as we could. Chemo and/or radiation would not have let him have that. He showed no signs of weakening or pain until the very end. The vet said it had definitely been coming on for a long time and he had just been able to work through it. I did not want to have him put down in Arkansas with a vet who was not familiar with him…..or us. Somehow he must’ve known this, because it was almost like he waited so he could let me have things the way I wanted.
In a almost eerie twist of fate, when I first registered him with an AKC ILP number, I had no birth date for him because he was a rescue dog. So I used his rescue date as his birth date. He was rescued on 11-1-02. We estimated he was 3 years old when I adopted him so his date of birth was made officially 11-1-99. His last day with us was 11-1-08. I choose to believe that was his way of telling us that the time was right for his trip to the Rainbow Bridge.
Our lives were forever changed when we adopted and brought this sweet soulful dog into our lives. He taught us so much about quiet love and deep respect and taking joy from small things. One of the ways we plan to honor him is to not forget these things. Our lives are equally changed by our loss. We are grieving still and each day begins with a few tears. I miss his smile, his funny way of holding his ears that made him look a lot like Dumbo, his hound like bowzer bark, and his pushy way of flopping his head in my lap when he wanted petting. I miss his high fives, which was one of the few tricks he allowed me to teach him.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have shared their lives with a dog that is more than a companion. Some of us get to have our lives enriched and be part of helping enrich others. So if the price I must pay for having this amazing dog in my life for such a short time is my broken heart, I consider it more than worth it.
God Speed, my wonderful special boy. Enjoy your time at the Bridge and I will meet you there one day.
we spent the balance of November and December between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. After thirty years in Arizona it was like being home! This time was joyously consumed with the holidays, Family, good friends and the notorious I3 Gang.