It’s been a rough 2006 at the Mercotan household. First, Fluff the Mercocat passed on of old age. Then today, Kim the Mercodog went the way of all fur.
Kim was a Golden Retriever, and her full name was Kimchee, because that’s how she smelled sometimes. Well, a lot. Her fuller name was Kimchee for Brains, because that’s how she acted a lot. Well, almost always. But her Registration name was Varda de Mercotijn!
She loved the water, which was nice since we live on Lake Michigan. She enjoyed pursuing seagulls into the water. She’d swim out after them, and when she neared them, they’d all fly far away. So she’d return to shore.
She tried this routine on ducks, and it nearly led to her demise. She’d swim out to a duck, who would watch Kim until she neared the duck. Then the duck would fly out another 60-70 feet, and land in the water. Kim would continue the pursuit. The duck would pull the same routine. I suddenly looked out into the lake one day to find that Kim was about a half mile out and still swimming hard in pursuit. The ducks acted smug.
She liked sailing too. She’d climb on board, get excited on the catamaran, run around too much on the boat, then fall overboard. Except when she got excited, ran around too much on the boat, threw up, then fell overboard.
She enjoyed swimming with us in the lake. One day, she came out to join me in the lake when it was really too rough for her, but she insisted on being with me. So I headed in, and she followed. But the next thing I saw was a giant breaker, which she was body-surfing perfectly, with just her nose sticking out of the crest, as she flew past me!
After those adventures, we made her wear a doggie life jacket in rough water.
She enjoyed any water. The lake, creeks, wading pools, puddles, no problem. She even had a jolly romp one time in a septic tank overflow pit. When she came out of that, she looked like a black lab from the neck down. Fortunately Lake Michigan was not far, and it was rough that day! In mere days she was allowed back in the house.
She enjoyed pursuing wildlife. She’d chase deer, skunks, fish, birds, and cars. She enjoyed bringing home parts of deer, and munch on them by the front door, as she greeted guests.
She didn’t listen, couldn’t fetch or catch anything thrown to her, and did not tolerate small children gladly. She put the fear of dogs into more than one young toddler, without actually eating them. She was horribly flatulent, and her last years were endurable for those around her only thru the miracle of Beano.
My favorite image of her was a picture of Kim in a blizzard. The wind was blowing so hard that her ears achieved lift! I’ll see if I can dig that photo out, and perhaps elfbabe will have time later to post a link to it.
But time slowed her down. She couldn’t keep up with walks anymore, no matter how slow we went. Despite doggie meds like Rimadyl, she finally just wasn’t able to function. So at age 14 and a few months, it was time for her to go.
