Almost 16 years ago my wife who to that point had always hated being around dogs decided that she wanted one. I didn’t really want a dog, but if she wanted a dog, it was like everything else, if she wanted a dog, she was going to have a dog. She did her research, and decided that a she wanted a Havanese which was a breed that I had never heard of, but if it was what she wanted and she was going to take care of him it was fine with me. Six weeks later my wife and daughter drove to New Market, VA and came back with a spotted black and white Havanese puppy. He was a friendly pup, but like I said, I didn’t really want a dog, so I just continued to go about my business. Problem for me was that everywhere in the house that I went, the dog would follow, and we all know how that goes long term.
Several days later we still had not named my wife’s little puppy and despite my giving her name after name, she didn’t like any of them. That weekend we were at Fauquier Springs Country Club for dinner and while waiting to be seated I ordered a drink and struck up a conversation with Brandon the bartender. We told Brandon about our new Havenese puppy and how we were struggling to name him. He asked what the dog looked like and I said that he was black and white and immediately, he said sounds like a domino. My wife loved the name, and thus Domino officially became part of our family.
After about 18 months, my wife decided that she didn’t really want a dog and she wanted to give Domino away, to which I said, “Domino is family, you can’t give him away”. Her reply was ok, now he’s your dog!
Now as I’ve said several times, I never wanted a dog, but Domino was not just any dog. Every day for nearly 16 years, when he heard my key in the door, Domino would come running to greet me. Every single day, sometimes two, three or four times a day he would head to that door to greet me. When he was a puppy, he would sit on my lap at night while I was reading or watching TV and he was the perfect partner because he never once asked for anything to drink other than water. Because he didn’t have any other dogs around to learn from, Domino never barked or went up and down stairs until he was probably 5 years old. When my wife fell ill and had to spend 30 days in the hospital, my friends Ben and Ann let him stay with them so that I could stay at the hospital for almost a month. They had 3 dogs, so Domino was able to finally learn how to be a dog, he learned to climb stairs, and yes to bark as well. When he returned home, much to my surprise he was able to follow me into the basement and the first time that I heard him bark was one evening when my wife when she came home from church and came over to hug me. Poor Domino, although he had learned to be a dog, he would never learn to not piss off the lady of the house😊
Domino had a really good life, he had health and dental insurance, he had his own room in the house, and when we traveled, he was allowed to stay in the local pet motel, sometimes for days on end. I still remember the look on the guys faces at the club when I told them that I had to take Domino to the Dentist😊
Yes, Domino was much more than just a dog, he was my friend, confidant, my brother and my son. He never talked back, and always understood when I couldn’t be there, he never judged, and he was always there to listen. I’m really going to miss my old friend, but I know that he’s in Doggie Heaven and that one day I’ll be with him again.
Love you man!
p.s. I’ll never forget how hard Ben and I laughed the day that you humped Whit’s leg😊