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I lost a best friend on Saturday... my buddy, Bandit, went to Rainbow Bridge to wait for me. We got Bandit when he was only 5 weeks old - barely old enough to leave his momma. I had given him to Chuck as a Father's Day present but, on the hour long ride home, as he sat curled in my lap while Chuck drove, he bonded to me. The first thing I did when we got him home was take him directly to the bathtub, where I bathed him three times to get all the fleas off. He didn't like that so much, but he did like being cuddled up to me in a big, soft towel afterward... Once he was dry, I took him downstairs and put him down on the floor. The house we lived in at the time had a sliding glass door to the backyard and little Bandit made a beeline for it. He looked SO confused when he hit the glass - nose first - at full speed and was knocked back on his keester, shaking his head and snorting...
As he grew, he went though his wild times, digging, chewing and getting into trouble. He was too smart for his own good, it seemed... he could always find a way to get out of the yard, and we were forever chasing him down. We finally figured out that he was simply determined to find us whenever we left him... installing a dog door cured that - for the most part! After many a manners lesson, though, Bandit became very well behaved.
When Bandit was focused on something he looked like the RCA Victor dog - he sat up so straight, head cocked and ears perked, just like the picture. He would do tricks on command - sit, shake, give sugar (lite lick on the cheek), sit-up-pretty, he could catch a treat in mid-air from a sit or sit-up-pretty and - the funniest of all - "silly dog." When I said, "Bandit, do silly dog!" he would flop down, roll over onto his back and do this squirmy, wiggly 'dance' - talking (not really a growl, not a bark), flailing his big head from side to side and wagging his tail all the while! He would fetch a tennis ball almost endlessly - he could even catch that tennis ball, like a fielder, in his mouth when it was thrown overhand... but he would only play as long as we were indoors.... for some reason, if the ball was thrown for him in the yard, he would just stand and watch it fly - ears perked - until it landed, and then go about his business, completely disinterested... When he was finally winded and ready to stop the fetch game, he would simply refuse to return the ball to the thrower and, instead, he would take it to 'his' corner of the den and chew on it... often until it popped!
He was menacing looking - a lot of people thought he was a pit or a pit cross, but he was a pointer mix - a Heinz 57 combination of just about every breed you can think of... and he was gentle and true. He was strong and protective - he DID NOT like aggression and, when it was displayed - not only toward me but toward anyone, especially children - he became fierce. I was never afraid to stay alone in this big house with Bandit on watch.
Bandit curled up on the floor on my side of the bed each night - I often almost stepped on him or tripped over him if I had to get up in the night. Every morning, when I awoke and started my morning ritual, he would follow me, then simply stand and stare at me until I beckoned him to come and get his daily "head hugs" - he would lean into me with his head over my lap until I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head down upon his. After a moment of murmurs, nuzzles and scratches behind his 'velvet ears' he was off - tail thumping on the door as he wagged it on his way out. Then, downstairs, outside to 'do his business' and back in... a quick drink of water and he was curled up outside Chelsea's door.... her guardian until she rose for the day.
Bandit loved everyone in the house, and he had a special way of showing it to each of us. Oh, how he loved to rough-house with Chuck - tug-of war or 'get the shoe' - while it was still on his foot - were favorite games! Bandit would play-bite on that shoe, tug, growl and toss his head until he got it off Chuck's foot! As soon as the shoe was off and in his mouth, Bandit would drop it and come sit beside Chuck to get some lovin' - reassuring himself and Chuck that they were still buds. Oh, and Tori - LOL - whenever she would finally emerge from her room for the day, all I had to say was, "Bandit, get Tori!" and he would chase her back into her room, play-biting Tori's butt the whole way. He wrestled with Robert, ran alongside on bike rides and watched many a movie with that boy.
Bandit was deathly afraid of storms - he could feel them coming long before we lowly humans knew - we could tell because he would start trembling terribly and he would always jump into Chelsea's bed if he could. Of course, he would take the side nearest the wall, so he could use that for leverage when he decided he needed some leg-room... he would simply put all four paws on Chelsea's back and s-t-r-e-t-c-h - Chelsea awoke as she plopped to the floor on many occasions!
Bandit knew me - probably better than I know myself. Every time he heard me laugh, he wagged his tail - thump, thump, thump - as if to say, "I'm glad you're happy, Mom." When I was blue, he would sit beside me and stare at me, softly whining and fidgeting in anticipation, until I let him jump on the bed, couch or chair upon which I was perched. He would lay beside me with his head on my lap, looking at me with so much love in those beautiful golden eyes, while I stroked his fur - sometimes talking to him, sometimes crying, sometimes just staring off into space - loving me and easing my stress.
Always elated to see me - any of us - returning home, Bandit would sit in the stairway window watching and wagging his tail - you could tell because he wagged so hard it made his whole body sway... when he couldn't see us from the window any more (which meant we were on the porch), he would bound down the stairs and greet us with a 'smile' - often leaping for joy and rearing back on his hind legs until someone caught him around his chest, under his forelegs for a "welcome home" hug - Bandit style.
My Bandit, "Frito", "Frito Bandito", "Brindle Butt", "Velvet Ears"....I'm so glad I got the privilege of being 'owned' by you for the last twelve years... and I'm glad that, in the end, you did not suffer but simply lay down in your favorite spot in the sun and went to sleep...
Oh how I miss you, my friend... oh how I will miss you 'til I see you again.
