There is definitely a bit of sugar and spice in our little girl but everything nice? Not so much.
Dee Dee has taken over aCappella and keeps the rest of the crew on their toes 24/7. She can go from a cuddly, sweet girl to a raging monster faster than a Ferrari can go from 0 to 60. Everything goes in the mouth including Dylan's tender ears and we're pretty sure she has a file hidden in her crate where she makes those sharp puppy teeth even sharper.
Then just as we're about to unfurl the "Free Puppy Available" burgee she collapses in a heap and falls sound asleep exhaling that sweet puppy breath. I think there's something mind altering in that puppy breath - makes you forget it all and go, "Ahhhhh!" Mother nature at her best.
Dylan has finally accepted that she's staying and even enjoys a good tussle when she's awake. Of course, it helps that he can jump up on the settee or run up the pilothouse steps when her biting becomes too much. Won't he be surprised when she learns to climb and jump to follow him.
Dylan is Dee Dee's idol and she wants to follow him everywhere just like a little sister would. For now he really is top dog in her eyes. Even though Dylan could flatten her with one paw (and probably considers it now and then) he is quite gentle with her and has even started letting her cuddle with him. There have certainly been a lot of adjustments for our boy these past few months. So Mommy has been far more lenient with the treats lately.
For now we are waiting at Shady Harbor Marina for the final lock to be repaired on the Erie Canal. It has given Dee Dee a chance to work on her sea-legs. If you're in the area stop by. We're the DeFever with the arch folded down at the end of the dock. We're hard to miss just follow the sound of "Dee Dee, no!"
I saw Mommy get out the bag of car stuff. See I mainly live on my boat but sometimes we drive places by car. I like it best when it's my white Subaru but most times Mommy goes off somewhere and comes back with some strange car. I don't know where they come from. Maybe she steals them.
We leave very early in the morning and for the first time I have the whole backseat to myself. Dyna always used to hog most of the backseat. I'd have to look at Mommy real pitiful and she'd make her move over so I could lie down. Boy, I wouldn't complain a bit if she were here to hog the backseat again...
So we finally stop and we're at Lucerne Veterinary Hospital. Wow, I love this place! I know most dogs hate the vet, maybe they don't have Chris and Stephanie as their vets. Sure, sometimes they stick me and it hurts a little or examine someplace I'd rather they didn't. But mostly they coo and tell me I'm cute and I almost always get a treat.
I can't believe it, JoDee is here too! I love JoDee because she loves dogs. She has a few puppies with her getting their wellness check. I like puppies. I remember last year about this time Dyna and I came here and JoDee had a whole van full of puppies, I think about a hundred. They got checked out and then JoDee played with us. It was great. This is going to be fun.
There's one puppy that Mommy and Daddy keep fussing over and calling Dee Dee. They're telling her how cute she is. I was pretty darn cute at that age too. In fact, my puppy picture won a 1st place prize in a contest. Can Dee Dee claim that?
Dylan, July 2007
What? Why did they put this Dee Dee character in our car? Maybe JoDee is going to drive back to our house and then I'll play with all of the puppies in the back yard. JoDee sometimes comes to my house and often has other dogs with her that I can play with. I remember once she brought my litter-mate Jewels to play with. It was fun but she pushed me around a bit and was kind of bossy. Come to think of it, so was Dyna. Maybe it's a female thing. This will still be fun.
Well, we've been here at the house for quite a while and JoDee still hasn't come to get the puppy. I wonder if she got lost. Maybe we should go find her.
Mommy and Daddy have put up a crate that's just like the one I used when I was just a puppy and they brought me home for good. They don't seem to be worried that JoDee hasn't come...
Wait a minute. Is this puppy staying? There's a bag of puppy food on the counter, some new puppy toys on the floor, hmmm. I wonder if we're going to take her back to the boat with us. I've got lots of new things to show her there. It will be nice to have someone to cuddle with in the backseat and when Mommy and Daddy are gone. I guess she can stay but I'm absolutely not letting her have any of my food!
Towards the end of April I received an email from JoDee with a picture of a minutes-old puppy. I had no idea there was a litter coming. JoDee and I had been talking frequently about Dyna but she had never mentioned it. So I called to find out what's up.
It seems she had bred Keeper, Dyna's great-great-granddaughter, with Sarge, Dyna's great-grandson but thought it didn't "take." I know a lot about dogs but not about the breeding of them and I didn't ask for details. A week or so earlier JoDee thought Keeper was putting on some weight and low and behold she was - puppies. So now there were 3 adorable puppies with a piece of Dyna on both sides.
Three weeks later our precious Dyna crossed over to become queen of that huge dog park with never ending bowls of meat (her favorite) and cool breezes (also her favorite). We were left with a big hole in our heart and down an important crew member.
So one day JoDee said, "I don't want to push you but I want you to know I'll keep the yellow female for you if you want." Those of us who have had the privilege of loving many dogs know one can never replace another. But we also know that the love we have to share grows with each one. I knew I could love another puppy. In the past, Jeff has taken longer.
So I waited a few days until we had finished dinner and were relaxing over a glass of wine and I mentioned my conversation with JoDee. Jeff responded with tears in his eyes, "I discussed it with Dyna her last night. I already have a name."
The picture above is from the "puppy cam" that JoDee setup for us. We can watch from our cell phones and many times a day one of us says, "Time to check on the puppies!"
So we leave early Wednesday morning to drive to Lucerne Veterinary Hospital, home of the two best vets in the entire world, where the puppies will receive their final wellness check. We have a folding crate and puppy food and chew toys being delivered to our house in Maine. A few days there and then back to the boat to continue our new adventure.
Don't tell Dylan. It's a surprise birthday gift. And I think he'll be pretty surprised...
We wish to thank everyone for their many kind emails, comments, and even personal visits to express your sympathy and thoughts about our loss of Dyna. It has been a melancholy time. Many have asked about how Dylan is doing. It has certainly been a loss for him as well. He was with her when she passed and seemed to understand. But he has lost a companion and mentor and is in some ways alone for the first time.
So we have been settling into new routines for all of us.
We spent nearly a week in DC, taking Dylan on long walks through the city that used to be home for us. The Capital Yacht Club was the perfect location to explore. Dylan visited many of the memorials with large groups of visiting school children happily giving him a pat. If you have a chance to do this trip don't hesitate. The cruise along the Potomac River in beautiful and the Capital Yacht Club is in the middle of it all.
We've enjoyed several nights at anchor, something we've done little of lately. Dylan was spoiled rotten by Linda and Kathy in the Washburns Boat Yard office in Solomons, Maryland while aCappella received some routine maintenance. Of course, they did take some humiliating funny hat pictures which may have scarred Dylan's psyche. Then they threw him a few treats and all was good. His niece Mellow was also in Solomons along with her people, Trudy and Ken. Dylan and Mellow enjoyed daily romps and were even invited to a docktail party one evening.
We spent several days at Annapolis. A place we had visited many times by land but this was the first time by water. We're now hunkered in at South Jersey Marina in Cape May, New Jersey waiting for a front to pass so we can transit the New Jersey shore to New York. It's giving us a chance to explore the charming town of Cape May.
There are more new adventures ahead as we spend the next year visiting all new destinations. At every stop we will think of Dyna who was always up for something new. Dylan will miss her as he looked to her for confidence in new situations.
For the first time ever Dylan is now top dog. At least for now...
It became a nightly ritual performed at bedtime for the last six
months. Dyna could no longer descend the steep steps to the stateroom
below and there was no way she'd sleep apart from the rest of her pack.
So I'd start a couple of steps down and she'd lean her chest onto my
left arm while my right arm captured her rear legs. As we reached the
bottom, her head would pop up impatiently looking around the corner to
the stateroom where Dylan and the all-important nighttime treat were
waiting. She often got nervous as she approached the floor to regain
control. I'd always say, "paws out, soft landing girl," and she'd relax
and come to stand.
Dyna came to us as a gift at a time
when we had a very large hole in our heart. We were visiting a new
litter of puppies that were Dyna's grandchildren. As we returned to the
car and were putting on our seat belts, Karen told me that JoDee had
offered to let us bring Dyna into our home. Karen wanted to know what I
thought. I unbuckled my seat belt and said, "Let's get her."
We
decided that we should think about it. So we drove down the road an
hour to Bangor and stopped at a Pizza Hut to discuss it. My mind hadn't
changed but now acting more mature we called JoDee to tell her that we
did want her and that we'd get her in another week after getting the
house ready for a new dog.
Dyna and I had a special
relationship. At home in Maine, she'd spend hours in a recliner chair
that she claimed as her own in my office. She was not a licker or a
kisser which is odd for a Labrador Retriever. But through the years, she
managed to sneak about 30 light licks on my face. They were special and
rare. Affection, like everything else with Dyna, always came on her
terms. She was the queen and she always acted like the grand matriarch
she had become. But in a quiet moment, she'd push her head against my
chest, spin around, and lay on my lap, motionless, for hours.
She
was an incredibly strong and determined dog. I stayed with her through
all her surgeries. They let me extubate her at a major surgery where I
monitored her for 8 hours afterwards. No matter what was thrown at her,
she took it and owned it. She never complained and I never heard a cry
from her in the 6 years she lived with us.
She had the
biggest smile I've ever seen on a dog. For whatever reason, her mouth
was formed in a way that made it look like she was smiling. While I
slept with her on the floor her last night, I looked over at one point.
Her breathing was labored and she was terribly weak. But there was that
distinctive smile on her face. Even in this dire situation.
There
was no denying that she had been failing. But she was determined and we
let her fight. Finally, she let us know that she couldn't fight any
longer. So as we docked in downtown Washington, DC, I arranged for a
veterinarian to come to our boat to end her pain. There is no truer act
of love. I know because it hurt so much to do it.
Looking
back, I've learned a great deal from her. Be tough, be honest with your
affection, and always smile. I miss her terribly and will never forget
her warmth.
We were saddened to lose our beloved senior canine crew member Dyna on May 14, 2013. She will never be forgotten and will always be in our hearts. We remember her on the masthead picture of her and Dylan as they began their TakingPaws adventures. You can share a glimpse of her extraordinary life onboard in the TakingPaws archives or her memorial posting.
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