late last year, asia met his maker. a combination of old age, health issues, and behavioral issues tipped the scales and we had to do the humane thing. as many of you know (but have forgotten), 'asia' was just his nickname... his full name was "mr. euthanasia". the wife saved him from the pink juice at isu back in '92. he was an 'extra' research animal. it was her job to put him down. too late. she had bonded w/ the shy lil guy, and couldn't euthanize him. but indeed, he actually turned into 'my' dog, always taking the bi-weekly trips from west st. paul to ames in my supra, as copilot. when the wife's attention turned to hiro (the other beagle... short for hiroshima, but that's another story) and to hunter, and then reagan, asia continued to be 'my dog'. 14 years w/ him. pretty much 50-51 weeks a year, always at my feet: in the office, during meals, at the bonfires, in bed (and then by the bed when we took away his doggy ramp (a miracle of engineering... i should patent it). when he would be confused, or scared, or sore, or sick, it was me he'd seek out. when he'd 'backward sneeze' and his chest wall and sides would be heaving, and his lungs couldn't get air, and he'd be shaking, it was me he'd stagger over to to help him. he was indeed a good friend. and now he's in our backyard. you should cover over to visit him some time. it's an emptier world w/out him in it. even tho he was a bad dog, he was a great friend.
random memories...
1992ISU: while debating if we keep him, his first poop outside i'd seen... HUGE, absolute monster, like 10 days worth... he's a keeper
1992
ISU: jumping up at ISU kennel, 'floating' in midair at the 5 ft high window. in high arcs, ears flopping up, dangling/levitating in mid air, thru the lab window
1992
ISU: trying to catch him and put him back in cell (kennel) he would do circular laps around room to avoid being caught, making a game of it... his first game ever
1992
ISU: coaxing him out of kennel w/ canned food, VERY timid, very unsure of human interaction
1992
ISU: exercise time in the big outdoor run. becky screaming at him to stop eating hay... the hay... the hay, him yacking it up 30 minutes later
1992
isu>wilson: bringing him to 1778 wilson ave apt to good. the barking, the barking. the meowing. the mooing. an arc of an apt building. w/ crack dealers in the parking lot, oh, and the mice infestations, too
1992
wilson: running w/ KC at wilson ave yard
1992
wilson: teaching him to sit, lay, come, stay all in one day (scooby snacks) and he remembered all of the calls until he died
1993
wilson: eating his soft rope leash, and pooping out the entire thing a week later (4 feet)
1993
wilson: playing hide and seek w/ him... he'd look for me, find me, jump on me and bark when finding me, happy. he definitely knew the game, and the rules, and would play it for hours
1993
wilson: eating a soft stick, and seeing it come out 3 days later, w/ a lil help
1993
wilson: finding my 3.5" floppy disks, and chewing thru EVERY ONE of them (thinking they were flat bones) during the day
1993
wilson: b putting asia in my bed 'for fun', and having him never leave it
1994
wilson: cruising w/ me to ames every other weekend for year, front seat of supra, did great, curled up in passenger seat, sleeping
1994
wilson: while i was working, w/ bedroom door shut, asia chewed thru door, thinking i was inside it. a lil wood putty later, and voila
1995
york: playing w/ old knotted up white tighty undies... they disappeared. but a MONTH later, after running around like crazy, he urped them up, green stinky, w/ fruit of the loom label still affixed. unreal
1995
york: thru out a knee... ACL surgery... $900 even w/ b working in vet clinic. THEN, month later, the other knee... built the ramp to our bed (carpet wood plank and rod in mattress, w/ hinges... genius! should patent it. worked for many years, compact, portable, flexible, perfect)
1995
york: after ACL surgery... would NOT pee. went 3 days (72 hrs!) w/out going, then finally, on the snow pack, w/ casted leg in a bread wrapper, finally went after in the cold for 20 minutes.. and went and went and went...
1995
york: in basement, chilling... heard some strange sound... "what is that?" we asked. like crumpling plastic... finally! we realized it was asia whizzing on the wall... a looooong whizzing, after surgery... another 2 days of whiz stored up.
1995
york: him under blankets and growling when trying to pull him out
1995
york: stealing ALL the orange cookies (still unfrosted, about 40 of them + paper towels), next morning, after yogurt, blowing up like balloon, and emergency room, barium / xraying, long nite, paper towels and orange cookie dough obstructing his stomach, minutes away from surgery
1995
york: while chewing a bone, getting humped by hiro (the wrong way... think 1987 falcon nose guard... #69), AND got it on videotape, but B overwrote that tape... grrrrr
1997
york: coming home, and finding a clone beagle in our backyard, and asia on the inside, totally horse / sore throat from barking at the imposter beagle ALL DAY long. sore throat for 3 days, hoarse. bizarro beagle. strange.
1998
after closing down 1st ave bar, i'm home, on kitchen floor, w/ spinnies, and burger king burger on counter. asia kept barking and barking for it. i couldn't move w/out yakking... LONG nite, wife oblivious and in bed
1999
york: attacking a bird caught in string... in attack dog mode, going for blood, yelping, wife pulling him back
1999
york: he escaping the fence, and running around back yards, avoiding us, playing a game, as we got madder and madder. asia's tag game
2000
york: playing w/ smokey (kind of roughly)
2000
everywhere: clapping hands, having him race around... c'mon! c'mon! and clap and race
2000
york: smelling a cookie tray right out of oven, zzzzzzzt! right on nose, burned it, turned his nose tip gray from then onward
2000
fawn: coming in w/ black all over neck, proud, after rolling in *hit
2000
fawn: early morning, seeing coyotes at water hole, and attacking the fence, trying to get at the coyotes, and vice versa. i had to scare away coyotes before they jumped fence and ate asia
2000
york: "dead dog", "dead dog" holding him upside down by legs, he went limp
2000
everywhere: when at vet or other homes, always pant so much, it looked like he was smiling, w/ tongue way out
2000
everywhere: bark and charge for every doorbell (even fake doorbells)
2001
fawn: looking out at top of backyard hill, and seeing a little brown spec walking around... asia!
2002
fawn: thanksgiving: greg puff left him out front door, 10 minutes later, he's walking home on the road, w/ a HUGE turkey carcas in his maw
2002
york: dressed up as 'pumkin' and had hunter sleep on him (nice pix)
2003
fawn: asia came up to B w/ a HUGE deer meat fillet in maw... we found the deer at back of fence later that day (coyotes killed deer, asia got dessert)
2003
fawn: walking on leash, wanting to stop, dig in heels, have leash go over his head, would NEVER walk w/out stopping every 10 ft
2004
play the 'tug of war' game too hard w/ him (pull something, he growls and pulls it back w/ teeth). and his neck gets sore. yipes for fawn: a week when he turns neck too fast
2004
fawn: sleeps in master bathroom / closet. scritchin at the door at 5:30 am to go out.. pretty much 4 days a week, winter or summer
2005
fawn: asleep, hiro licking out ears, wakes up, attacks hiro
2005
waits at bottom of steps for me to haul him up
2006
everywhere: having his head right between my legs during meals
2006
everywhere: turning his head 90 degrees when listening really hard
2006
fawn: W-A-L-K? do you want to go for a waaaaaalk? and the howling
2006
the end. 14 yrs of fun w/ the guy over. sweet and sour.
