In Memoriam: Dewey, 5/10/02-5/14/18
May. 15th, 2018 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)

Dewey was the first dog I knew for his entire life. I was afraid of dogs as a kid, but Beth had dogs her whole life, so I started to get used to them when I stayed with her. Now I'll try to make friends with dogs on the street. Beth adopted Dewey after her previous dog, also a dachshund, died, about two years after we'd started dating.

He was very loving, and while Beth was his favorite (at least when she lived with him; more on that later), he was friendly with pretty much everybody.

He loved being under the covers, and one time when he was a puppy and there were no covers on Beth's bed, he tried to crawl into a pillowcase. He also used to be able to grab on to a set of toy rings and hang by the strength of his jaw, something he obviously didn't do for that long, but it was impressive. Dachshunds have a reputation for being smart and stubborn, and Dewey could definitely be both of those. He had a bark that he only used when he wanted to come inside. When Beth would play her clarinet, he'd howl along. And I don't think it was because he didn't like it, as he'd go right to her when he heard her playing.

He also liked to wear costumes, and we'd try to take him out for Halloween. In different years, he was Freddy Krueger, a pirate, a bee, and the Big Bad Wolf.

It's not uncommon for dogs to enjoy dressing up, but it's probably best not to try that with a cat. When Beth and I moved to Secaucus, we tried taking Dewey with us, but he was too set in his ways. I think it was confusing to him that we didn't have access to a yard, so he couldn't go outside whenever he wanted. So we brought him back down to Beth's mom's house, but he always loved seeing us when we came to visit. Four years ago, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and Beth's mom gave him pills. Not only did he manage to live another four years, but I'm pretty sure he's the longest-lived dog Beth's family has had. As you can tell from the dates, he died a few days after his sixteenth birthday. Last weekend, we took him on a car ride and gave him ice cream, two of his favorite things. I think he appreciated that. He died in his sleep yesterday morning. It's going to be so weird not having him around.
