July 6th~ Tony Dhurei Fire

I was getting a little concerned because I hadn't heard from Elizabeth yet, and I had lost her phone number when I washed my cell phone two weeks ago, and her date was TODAY!
Last night I was really tired when I got home- we had an incredible dinner at our friend's house and picked up my "Autobi DOG raphy" show, so now there is art leaking out of every possible crack in our house. But I was pooped, and trying to figure out how to get in touch with Elizabeth somehow, when my phone rings and guess who it is! Yes, and she came over with some fabulous photos and a great story of an amazing dog.
In her own words~

"Tony Dhurie Fire was a white standard poodle with pizazz. You should have seen him prance like a circus horse high stepping when we walked on a windy day (he loved this) or on a snowy day (he loved this more). He was also a hilarious dog, very acrobatic, and also had strong opinions, which involved eating anything really meant for humans. He ate a whole cake from the counter, once he ate a whole dish of butter, yech, he threw up bright yellow butter in the snowy backyard.

"When our first grandbaby came to visit, age 1 to 2 weeks, mama put her on a blanket and Tony carefully went over to sniff her. He snuffled her head. He carefully sat down next to her and became guard dog.

"Tony was a deeply gentle dog and quite meditative. He could bring quiet to a room, yet any intruder type would also receive his attention with big deep insistent barking, so LOUD.

"He had a friend who was a huge, giant black doberman. They would run together all around the parking lot of the Calhoun Greek Orthodox Church. Those dogs were the Royal Ballet, black and white, round and round; watching their playful leaps I thought (feared!) that the doberman would knock Tony down but he never did- they met noses sweetly, they were good friends.

"At 11, Tony was blind. At 12, he died. It was so so sad. Toward the end he became very quiet- not exactly quiet, more like solemn. I thought he was listening to God, probably. He was getting ready, maybe. He was definitely tuned in.

"Then- gone!"
Elizabeth Erickson