Tribute to Pike

I have been putting off blogging for a little while because sadly I have been stuck on this post. It brings up way too many memories and while I know I need to document it -it just breaks my heart. As many of you are aware we had to say good-bye to our dog of 8 years, Pike. He was our first child and was a spoiled little dog. Tim and I had been married for about six months and I came home from visiting family and Tim had bought a dog! Ok...maybe the story wasn't quite like that but that is how I remember it ;)

Where we went, he went -even across the country! If you started packing a suitcase he would jump in it!  Later in life he learned to hate suitcases -they started to give him anxiety but the more kids you have the harder it is to take the dog along as well. But he was always a good sport and loved relaxing at the Diamond's house when we were away.

Pike loved kids! He didn't care if they chased him, pulled his tail or ears he would just run around with them. Ella was great at helping Pike adjust to life with little children. Ella would always crawl into Pike's dog kennel and Pike could never understand what was going on. He would just get really excited and run around.

Then Ian came along and they were the best of friends. This is my favorite picture...Ian had just spilled cheerios everywhere and when I came in the room he pointed the blame to Pike. Seriously what 8 month old understands to blame the dog? Good thing Pike didn't care :)

While Pike loved to play chase, and run around the table, or do figure eights chasing his toys he was quite the affectionate dog. He loved to cuddle up in your lap or if you were busy holding children he would wiggle his way in. If you could not find him it was usually because he snuck into someones bed.

Halloween was always a favorite! We would take him trick-or-treating with the kids and everyone loved looking at the spider dog. While Pike would always bark when kids came to the door if you took him out around the neighborhood with you he never made a sound.

Pike also had the strange habit of immediately tearing the eyes out of all of his dog toys. We did find it a little disturbing but just let it go :)

Left clockwise -Ian and Pike looking out the window, Aaron and Pike, Pike and Ava.

He loved going for runs. Not walking -running! Tim would take him biking or skateboarding and they would go for miles. Pike would practically pull you until you got up to speed. He would still grudgingly let the kids take him for walks around the block or in the house. In the winter unless he had his boots on he could not be outside for more than 10-15 minutes.  His legs would freeze and he would literally just fall over. For those 10-15 minutes he loved running around in the snow with the kids.

He was a wonderful dog -sure he had his annoyance like every dog but he made up for that with love. Ian said that Jesus is chasing pike around in Heaven -I don't know if that is true or not but it sure brings a funny picture to my mind. I can only hope so!