Good-bye to My Best Pal

      My dog died this week and I am having a tough time getting past his passing. He was more than just a dog. He was always by my side and never more than an arm's length away. Whether I was gone five minutes or five hours, I always got the same excited welcome when I returned home.. This is Cosmo,.who lived to be eleven and a half years old.

     Yeah, he is a miniature Schnauzer and I have owned a lot of them. Cos was the most intelligent and devoted.. In early 2009 we decided to get another dog. At first I gave some thought to buying a West Highland Terrier,..you know that cute little white dog on the dog food packages. I even contacted a breeder in McKinney and made arrangements to view her latest litter. On the day of the meeting we got word of a litter of Schnauzers just over the river in Oklahoma.. We checked them out and the group of four girls and one boy greeted us upon arrival. The females had all been spoken for and we agreed on the male. He was ten weeks old when we got him in March and his papers showed him being born Christmas Eve of 2008. He was shaggy when he came home with us, but Momma kept insisting she saw loving eyes deep in those long eye brows..

     Momma gave him his first haircut and the famous 'Cosmo look' came to the surface..

    The American Kennel Club says Schnauzers should be black, silver, or black and silver. Cos met that last description. His warm brown eyes were always loving and eager to please. As a puppy, I can't remember him ever making an accident indoors. When he got the hang of going outside to do his business, sometimes he would even bring me the leash to let me know it was time to go out.

    Schnauzers are hearty dogs and at every check-up the vet would pronounce him in great health.
In the early years Cosmo would go to the groomer to get 'gussied up' and he always came home looking like a million bucks.

    I was always extremely proud of Cos and one of my friends even commissioned an artist to make a carving of Cos as a surprise gift.. The different types of wood are just the thing to show-off the various shadings of Cos.

     One of the professional groomers clipped his ear and brought some blood to the surface. After that Cos never went back to the groomer and Momma became his private groomer...and she showed yet another talent.

    When we made our trips outdoors, Cos would always give the scene a once over and if anything had changed since the last time out, he would notice it. He had the eyes of an eagle and hearing beyond belief.
   When I retired from work I became a lot more of a couch potato than I expected. At the end of the day when we settled down to watch TV, Cos would be right by my side, but not necessarily interested in the TV program.

     Cos and I both claim our German heritage and it was a bond that could not be broken...even by a little bad weather..

    Around the first of this month he developed a cough and it got worse and worse. A trip to the vet told us he had congestion in his heart that was backing up into his lungs. The doctor gave me some medicine that I mixed with yogurt and Cos lapped it up like candy. The next couple of days he showed marked improvement but then the cough came back. A second trip to the vet and this time a shot of steroids and a different type of medicine. He showed no sign of improvement and kept us up a couple of nights with his constant cough. Monday, April 6th, I returned to the vet and we both came to the same conclusion. One shot to make him relax and I held him tight in my arms. I could feel him take his first deep breath in over a week.. Then another needle into a vein on his leg. All this time I was whispering in his ear how I appreciated and loved him. I told him not to stray too far from the Rainbow Bridge because that's where I will be looking for him when my time comes.. Thanks for the love Cosmo.. 

                        Cosmo P. Dawg
                 born: December 24, 2008
                 died:  April 6, 2020

                           Rest In Peace