January 31, 2020 - News Post

My dog Grendel is getting up there.

I've had her for 11 years. She's a border collie / australian shepherd who came from the pound, and we think she’s at least 13.

I know her well. She's sneaky. She uses her lifelong limp to distract us before lunging at food she shouldn't have. When she steals something out of a cabinet, she always goes out of her way to destroy it or eat it on the other dog’s bed. It took years for us to stop blaming the wrong dog for that one.

She communicates effectively. I can tell not only her basic needs, but when she wants me to follow or leave her alone. There is no question of whether she wants a walk, food, treats, or attention. I can even tell which neighborhood dog she sees by the sound of her bark. She knows exactly which face to make to force me to get treats.

It's taken her a lifetime to train me, and now she's old. She has good days and bad. Sometimes she feels like sprinting, other times, walking is a chore. I don’t know if my time left with her is limited to months or years. But we’ve tried to give her a good life.

She's barked at gators in Florida, hiked glaciers in Washington, growled at cops in NYC, chased skunks in Tennessee. Been headbutted by goats, eaten the nose off a snowman, and scavenged for burritos in front of art galleries. She’s peed in states I have not, and resided in 4 different time zones.

This dog has LIVED.

These days, it’s rare for her to have a new experience. She’s had a pretty full life. So I am happy to report that she spent this evening’s walk chewing on something new. Something special. Something different.

My dog started gnawing on a dead hammerhead shark.

Now, I do feel bummed for the shark. It had washed up on the shore, and didn’t look more than a year old. Still, I’m glad we were able to check that off Grendel’s bucket list. She has been working on becoming an apex predator for some time, and this helped solidify her reputation in the sea.

I will miss Grendel when she’s gone. But there’s still a little time left for adventure. Gross chewing habits aside, she’s pretty great to have around.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

-Jeff