As you know, we have two dogs. Newton is our older dog. He turned 12 in June.
We adopted Newton when he was two months old. We took the boys to see some puppies. They were surrounded by puppies. It was such a cute site. Wish I took a picture. I was crouched down telling RT how I want a dog that wants to be around us. A dog that loves us and is part of the family. The whole time I was talking, I was petting this little puppy. I said, "You know, a dog like this one."
I always say that he picked me.
He didn't have a name yet. I got to snuggle him on the way home. We first made a stop to get him a water bowl, collar and leash. In the car, Nick and Alex were trying to come up with names. Finally Nick said, "What about Newton?"
Newton. What a wonderful name.
The boys were so excited about Newton. They wanted to walk him and let him out. Feed him. Take care of him. And, Newton was such a gentle, loving puppy. He just wanted love and to be a member of our family.
I always refer to Newton as my third child. I think he believed he was one of the kids. One day, RT was going to take the boys for a walk and told them to get ready and wait by the front door. Guess who was the first one sitting, waiting patiently by the door?
When Newton was a puppy, he had a cage that he slept in at night. This was used for several years because it gave him a way of getting away from the boys. We moved the cage right outside of our bedroom. In the morning, I would hear Alex get out of bed, walk down the stairs, open Newton's cage and then close it.
A boy and his dog. One of my favorite pictures.
As Newton got older, we just took the blanket and would lay it down and tell him to, "Go Nani." In Greek, that means, "to sleep." The boys got to take turns having Newton sleep in their room, One night, the boys were fighting over who would get to have Newton sleep in their room. So, RT took the blanket and threw it down in the middle of the hall way. Newton walked over, circled and laid down.
There was the time where we came back home from a friends house, only to find out that our front door was wide open. RT decided to go in and check things out. He said he was yelling and walking around the house with a baseball bat. He finally makes it up to Nick's room and, there's Newton. Asleep. (our fierce watch dog)
Well, I can't tell you all of the good things about Newton without bringing up some of the naughty things he did. Like the time in the car on the way back from Door County, he ate half a loaf of pumpernickel bread and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. Or, how about the time he chewed a hole through the front gate of our fence so he could stick his head out and see who was at the front door? How about the time that I was making a cake for Nick and I cut it into layers and somehow one of the layers mysteriously disappeared from the kitchen counter? Or the time that the boys got a gift box and opened it in the family room, putting the chocolate balls on the coffee table. Only to realize a little later that those chocolate balls were missing. Or, the time on Christmas Day that he chewed a hole through the side gate (that goes into our yard) so he could be by the turkey that RT was smoking on the grill.
Did I mention that Newton loves turkey? Anytime RT makes a turkey, Newton is right there. I call him the helper. By helping, he gets quite a bit of turkey tastes from RT. Even as his legs were going bad, he somehow would make it up the stairs if he smelled turkey in the oven.
Then there was the "leg problem." When he was 9 he tore his ACL in his back right leg. RT brought him inside the house and put him in the laundry room (he couldn't walk). I got home and we went to the laundry room and.....he wasn't there! He walked into the rec-room and was laying behind the couch. We knew it was bad, but, not bad enough for him to stay in the laundry room. We made a cozy nest in the garage and had him on a chain. He hung out in front of our house for a few months while his leg healed. He became quite friendly with the mailman. He would bark every time the mailman drove by. You see, the mailman would toss Newton a cookie (from his truck) when Newton barked. Newton figured by barking at the mail truck he would be guaranteed a cookie. Newton was so good at this game, that he figured out he would get a cookie when the mailman was on the other side of the street, too. Of course, he was quite disappointed when we got a new mail carrier.
I have to break away for a moment to explain that Newton HATES the laundry room. That is where his food and water bowl live. He doesn't mind hanging in there to eat or drink water. It's those times when we went on a long trip, Newton had to stay in the laundry room. (we have a neighbor who watches him while we are gone). If he was getting locked in the laundry room, he knew we would be going somewhere without him.
As time went on, Newton would show us how much he missed us by hanging all over us when we returned from our trip. There were many times where he would follow me around until I sat down. Once sitting, he would sit down and make sure he was sitting on my feet. If I got up, he would jump up and follow me. This would go on for a couple of days after our return.
When we would go on vacation, the kids would miss Newton. This wouldn't happen the first or second day, but, by day three we would start to hear them complain or cry. We decided to bring Newton on vacations with us. One trip was to Kentucky. This was Newton's vacation of a lifetime. He was able to roam the yard with out being chained up. There was no fence. He got to sniff everything in sight. I think this picture sums it up.
Another vacation Newton joined was to Michigan. We rented a house. Things were going okay. At night, Newton would not leave my side. Once again, he followed me around and would sit on my feet when I sat down. He was quite jumpy. We didn't have a good experience there that night due to the next door neighbor. In the middle of the night, I checked on Newton. We had his blanket at the bottom of the stairs because they (the stairs) were too steep for him to climb. He did not rest at all. He kept sitting up and looking around. He would put his head down....hear a sound and sit up again. We didn't stay there another night. I couldn't leave him there by himself during the day. If he didn't feel comfortable, then I didn't feel comfortable.
Newton has had a variety of nicknames over the years (thanks to me).
Rootin' Tootin' high falutin' Newton
Newt
Toot
Fruit. Which turned into
Fruit box which turned into
Fah rut (pronounced "root")
Newtie
Tootie
Right now, Newton has refused to answer to any of his nicknames. I thought his hearing was going , but I said, "cookie" and he jumped up. So I know he can hear. Maybe he got hold of a dictionary and found out the meaning of "toot."
Speaking of figuring out words, there are a few words in the English language that Newton knows the meaning.
"Walk
Go
Go with
Mention the word walk and he goes crazy. Jumping all around. Following you until you get his leash. Never mind that you were referring to a pan (wok) that you wanted to use. You said the word and now you are taking Newton for a walk.
Go is another word we can't say around here. Just saying, "Hey, do you want to go to the store with me?" turns Newton into a crazy dog. We can't even spell these words. He knows what we are spelling.
Lately, Newton has been having troubles with his back legs. He has been losing a lot of bone mass. One back leg can not hold much weight. Some times he hops a long on three paws. The winter was hard on him. We kept the back stairs clear of ice and snow so Newton could go up and down them. We had a few close calls, but he pulled through the winter.
RT has told me that I am to tell him when "it's time." The problem is, I don't think I can do it. I know it's supposed to be the most humane thing to do, but, I can't. I just can't. Newton has been with us through the good and the bad. He has been such a loyal dog and member of our family. I guess I don't want him to leave. I know it's selfish. I know I can't keep him (alive) with me forever. I know he might be better off. I just can't let him go. I can't make that decision.
For now, I am happy to have him around. Even when he is stubborn. He's still cute. Adorable. Cuddly.
He's Newton.
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