Bear: The Great Adventure

Written by Jennifer Wright | Rights reserved.

There is a quote that says, “I wish I was the person my dog thinks I am.” I find that to be so true. What can be said about a warm cuddly brown furry creature that the moment you walk into the door does everything in his power to knock you down with his overwhelming love for you. With true reckless abandon he has no problem sticking his wet slimy tongue in your ear, on your face, pretty much any place he can get wet on your body.

Writing or embodying into words Bear for me is truly one of my most difficult undertakings in writing. Now I know for all of you out there who are so called “not dog lovers” you do not understand those of us with endless affection for our furry creatures. But for those of you who do share that same bond with an animal you know and you understand the enormous undertaking it is to tackle the emotions and feelings that you feel for your companion.

For Bear is just that and more. He is a companion, a friend, and my greeter at the door after a long day and the one who snuggles next to me as I drift off to sleep after a long hard day. I guess put simply he is the one who understands and knows me down to my heart and loves me for just me. He does not care about any pretence or how expensive my stiletto heels are or if my hair is perfectly straight from hours with struggling with the straightner or if I have won a tough case. All he cares about is being loved by me. He is the simplest of ways loves unconditionally and all he cares about he having that it back from me.

I guess to even remotely explain or express how much Bear means to me I should begin in how he came to me. My ex-husband and me were planning our wedding at the time and as though we did not have enough undertaking us in our busy life, I was convinced that we needed a dog. Every cute normal couple had a dog and I was a huge dog lover so it fit. And after weeks of whining and begging… it was settled that we would have a dog. Now the question was where would this most perfect beautiful creature that we would call ours come from? After some research on both of our parts, mostly my ex-husband who thought he wanted an expert hunting dog, we found a kennel. We both knew we wanted a Labrador retriever. There was no question about it; I had grown up with labs and he like to hunt. The kennel was located south of Eugene, Oregon and was a top breeding AKC retriever kennel (http://www.duckdog.com). We made a few calls and before we knew it we were waiting on our puppy to be born. It was not too long after that that Merganser’s Classic Matlock and Merganser’s Yahoo bred a litter of brown furry puppies and Bear was born of that group. Now granted we did not know that he would turn out to be the Bear we know today …. But at the same time we should have had a guess that it was possible.

We got a call from Dianne who runs the kennel to tell us of the birth of the puppies and that she would be taking photographs of them and emailing them to us. Each of the puppies would be adorned with a brightly colored ribbon around their neck so that they could monitor their personalities, traits and peculiarities from the moment they were born. We had already asked to have a male of the litter so when Dianne called she asked my ex-husband and I a few more questions about what we were looking for. I guess this should have been our first sign of problems to come in the marriage impending in that we were not totally in agreement in what we were looking for. He suggested a high spirited dog that he could run dog hunting field trials with and I suggested a laid back sluggish dog who would lay by the fire or in bed with me. We ended up with something in between.

We decided on the puppy in the picture with the red ribbon tied around his neck. Ironic in the fact that red is my favorite color and that the color red has a long history of meaning life, vitality and joy. Bear certainly met that description and more.

It was only a short time later until we had our first meeting with the precious furry little puppy that we named Merganser’s Coastal Berringer (to be called Bear). He flew on a plane all the way from Oregon with only one stop in Atlanta (and yes I tracked his flight all day long) and then arrived in Mobile, Alabama late one afternoon. I can still remember being outside at the airport when he was being taken off of the airplane and hearing his whining and barking and probably thinking where in the world am I now!

In a very short time he became the center point and focal point of the house and mine and my ex-husband’s life. Everything revolved around Bear. Whether it be reading books, figuring out house training, or crate training … our journey with him was just beginning. He was so eager to learn anything we taught him and as we quickly learned the high dollar we spent for a spirited dog was shining through. He was just that full of personality and most of all full of endless adventure and love.

There was little that Bear did and does to this day that does not cause some sort of drama or adventure. It is just his way. As a puppy he was no different and before we knew it he had grown into a leaping bounding dog with endless energy.

It is funny how dogs have a sense a second sense of things to come and the surroundings around them. Not long after our second year of being married my ex-husband and I began to have problems in the marriage. Fights, disagreements and just an overall inability to see our life heading in the same direction together. And then there was Bear. Looking back now it brings tears to my eyes to think of the sweet puppy we had raised and loved sitting all slumped down with his head lowered and ducked down with the saddest look on his face when he would hear us fight or disagree. Almost like a child who did not want to see his parents separate or divorce but know that was where it was heading. Bear endured the fights and was the one who would sleep in the bed with me alone at night when my ex-husband stayed in the spare room. He was the one who would lick the tears away from my checks and lay as close to me as possible throughout the night as I slept never leaving my side.

In June 2007 I had to have surgery. At that time the marriage was very badly damaged and on the rocks but hanging by a thread. I stayed at the house after returning from days in the hospital. One night not long after being home, I was having enormous pain and was not sure what was happening. I was laying in our large king size sleigh bed with a high headboard and footboard, when after hearing my cries of pain, Bear who was laying on his LLBean monogrammed bed in the floor, got up and jumped over the footboard of the bed to lay right next to me. I will never forget that moment. The bed still wears the scars of the last little bit of his claws that did not make it over the footboard that left three large scratches in the footboard. Those scars still visible today, are more precious to me than anything you can imagine. Bear laid next to me that night through the entire night with his large brown head gently on my abdomen never moving never leaving making sure that I was going to be okay and gently reminding me that I would be okay.

After I recovered from the surgery, a short time later I moved out. At first my ex-husband and I decided to have joint custody of the companion we both loved so very deeply. As we both agreed being without him was the most difficult part of our split. The day I moved out of the house was a difficult day for me as the truck pulled in and loaded my things. But even more difficult leaving him there that first night and being without him.

Luckily that first year being separated, the sharing of Bear and “joint custody” went as smoothly as it could possibly have gone. But we both knew that there would come a time where Bear would have to find a permanent home with either one of us. And luckily when that time came my prayers were answered and Bear came to live with me.

I think it is ironic how one decision and one choice to get a dog can so profoundly affect your life. I am a huge fan of John Grogan and his book Marley and Me. His writings in that book are poetic, moving, humorous and most of all right on point. It is certainly why the book has become a bestselling novel, so many people can relate and understand the human connection with their pet.

I think that John Grogan states it best …..

“A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by whom they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see.”

That quote says so much. Bear will turn six years old this year in February. Looking back now it seems like those six years have already FLOWN by … it seems as though it was only yesterday a young couple starting out on their adventure and life together picked this little brown ball of fur with a red ribbon around his neck to be theirs. And now six years later so much has happened in my life and looking back at that young woman who picked her companion just looks like a blurry vision in a mirror.

Bear however has remained the constant. The constant in my life over the last six years no matter where I stood or what place I found myself. There were days his disasters in the kitchen of eating all the brownies on the counter, or tearing up every paper towel he could find and shredding as though it had snowed, or eating a bag of candy corn, or the time that he knocked the small child down at my apartment complex and ate all of her Fun Dip (that was a fun day going to door of the upset parents after I purchased new Fun Dip as an apology for the young child who was upset) ……it has been and CONTINUES to be an adventure. Pretty much every day with him is filled with something new and certainly exciting. As his vet said once, “I am not sure I have ever seen a dog with so much personality.” I guess he fits me well.

Last year on his birthday I thought I was doing this great gesture and went to this gourmet dog store called “Bark Avenue Pets” and purchased Bear this great dog cookie in the form of a birthday cupcake. Just to give you glimpse into my life at the time and where I was standing then, I was in the middle of a very stressful trial, a murder trial with a very tough defense lawyer… so needless to say I was stressed, exhausted and spent. I came home after work bringing the new gift for Bear and as SO excited about giving it to him. Well clearly he was just as excited about receiving it. As I ATTEMPTED to give him the treat (key word being attempted) he got so excited that he snatched the treat and began chomping on it well before it was out of my hand. It took me a few moments to realize my hand was bleeding and there was a large and deep gash right where his teeth went in to take the first bite. So GREAT …. This was all I needed at this point in my life.

As you can imagine my humiliation when I called the doctor to make an appointment after the bite mark continued to bleed. They told me to come in immediately because I needed to have stitches and a tetanus shot … YES all in the middle of my very stressful murder trial. So I ask the judge to start the trial late one morning and he complies and the jury is told to come back a little later (all because of my brown furry friend). I then go sit in a doctor’s office full of people sick with strepthroat, bronchitis and the flu in the middle of the month of February and they call my name up. I step up to the counter with my hand all bandaged up and said “Maam I am here because my chocolate lab bit me on his birthday trying to get his birthday surprise from Bark Avenue pets.” There was an immediate sound of laughter from everyone working behind the desk to every sick person in the waiting room at my reason for being there. So after several stitches and a tetanus shot (that hurt like crazy) .. I went back and continued my case with my bandaged hand and did closing arguments. And yes, I did get a conviction with no help from Bear nonetheless.

I think it is us humans that often time have a difficult time seeing what counts and what matters in life, never dogs. Bear always reminds me to laugh at the small things like stitches on his birthday and an entire loaf of bread eaten or a kitchen I have to clean up after a long day of work, instead of dwelling on the difficult.

The last six years has brought many ups and downs. Happy moments and mountaintops but with those it has also brought valleys and disappointments and sadness. Going through a divorce, those first holidays going home alone after being divorce, learning to be on my own again and searching for answers in the difficulties of my job, yet Bear has been the one thing to stand by me through all of it and make most of the days a little lighter and a little easier (and sometimes just plain FUNNY). Just knowing each morning I was waking up to his brown face laying on my shoulder and falling asleep to his snoring right next to my ear has made it a joy and a constant reminder of how God takes care of us (even by sending us a crazy dog named Bear) in little ways and sometimes in ways we would never imagine.

Those scars I have on the footboard of my bed and the one on my hand are constant reminders of the love of a special dog. A special gift that I believe God sent all the way from Oregon in the form of a brown ball of fur with a red ribbon on his neck named Merganser’s Coastal Berringer to take care of me and experience this journey with me daily.

This is dedicated to the one and ONLY Bear. Thank you for making my everyday life so much better and for loving me when there are days I certainly don’t deserve your love. You are the “World’s Best Dog” !