Dear Parker,

Parker as a puppy!

Parker at a park in Virginia ~6 years old. Lean and fit from all our runs... like his Mama used to be! ;-)

Sunbathing while the kids are playing outside

A tired old dog from a long happy life!

If you had a funeral, your eulogy would go something like this...

You came to me almost exactly 10 years ago. You were a red little puff ball, underweight from being dewormed, and barely 12 weeks old. I had to feed you chicken to get your weight up. You slept on my chest like a little baby. You loved your crate and easily crate trained. You had so much energy I had to take you to the dog park almost everyday. You were still a little puppy and all the other dogs wanted to play with you. Once I unhooked your leash, you would make a bee line for the park bench and slide under it with ease for protection. We moved around quite a bit and you tolerated every move and every rode trip with ease. We moved to Tucson, drove all the way to Indianapolis, and then to Virginia. When we moved to California, you drove cross country with Papa. Since you were my baby for so long, you were quite used to being indoors, sleeping on my bed, and/or the couch. You rarely stayed outside and it wasn't until your older years we would leave you outside when we went to work. Many times you had so much pent energy, you would just start running around sporadically our little apartments. When we brought you outside during these episodes, you would just run in big circles. You stayed at many kennels and tolerated them well. I felt it was better than leaving you in our backyard. You were fed only the best of dog food until I realized how much cheaper the alternative was. You were probably over 5 years old by then! You never had much human food until we had kids, or you were around your Papas who fed you bacon, hot dogs, and other dinner scraps. Your favorites were bacon, chocolate, and Reese's peanut butter cups. I knew you were really sick when you wouldn't eat the peanut butter cup. I also never realized how messy of eaters my kids are. You would clean every food morsel in sight! I will definitely miss you cleaning up the food messes under our table and left on their chairs. We would go on 5 miles runs together. Everytime we pulled out the leash, you would get so excited you would literally start whining and "talking." You accepted Matt into our little household well. He spoiled you just as much as I did. He invited you up on the couch more than myself. You eventually invited yourself onto the couch, even squeezing yourself between our legs on the recliner. We frequently woke up to you snoozing between us in bed sleeping perpendicular to us so you would get kicked off the bed. You initiated petting sessions by bumping your nose under our hands. You hated the thunder and lightening storms in Indiana, but loved the snow. During thunder storms, you would shake and pant and lean right up next to our legs. If we weren't home, we might find you hidden in the bath tub. Until you discovered the house was your free reign while we were at work. We frequently caught you slithering off the couch as we walked in the door. You learned to swim and jump into pools at Camp Besmer with the "big dogs." And from that moment on, you enjoyed jumping in lakes whenever you got a chance to fetch a stick, catch a frisbee or ball. When we moved to Virginia, you loved to play catch in our large backyard. When we had children, you welcomed them with uncertainty. We brought Ashton home and you were uneasy and nervous when he let out his first  little cry. As he grew up, you tolerated him pulling your hair, grabbing your tail, and straddling you to ride like a horse. When Violet came, you took it all in stride. She is the one now pulling your hair and straddling you while saying "giddy up." I will miss seeing Violet lean over to look at your face while she says, "hi karker." I'm not sure you even realized Timothy was another addition to our crazy life since it was just another kid. He never had a chance to "love" you as the other big kids. You took back stage to the kids for the last 3 years but took it all in stride. I loved how you would lay outside their bedroom door at night as if you are protecting them. Oftentimes you would move to the foot of the bed so I would trip over you in my night stumble to nurse Timothy. In the last years, you enjoyed sun bathing while the kids played outside. You had a very protective bark to anyone walking up to the front door. Even if your bark was far from a bite, no one knew that. I will even miss your annoying high pitch bark you let out for us to let you back in the house. I am glad you didn't suffer much. It was less than 2 weeks from your unofficial diagnosis to your end. Just last weekend, we all went on a walk. Ashton held your leash as he ran ahead, you trotted behind. You were always a great walker. You would walk right next to my left side. Even if someone was walking to my left, you would still be more left of them. It must be from our endless runs and walks we went on when we were younger. You had your funny quirks. You never peed like a male dog, always squatted which everyone thought was funny. But not as funny as your twirl to find what I called "the perfect spot" to do your #2. Thank you for the last 10 years. For loving me, my children, and showing me what unconditional love a pet can give his owner. P.S. Ashton thinks you are going to heaven to be Uncle Peter's dog. So be a good dog up there for him!