Springheel Jack RIP

The world's greatest dog (well, don't we all feel that way about our own?) has spun off the mortal coil after 14 years of a life well-lived.

The old boy was afflicted with laryngeal paralysis and we had to put him out of it. Man, oh man, what a rotten day last Friday was. We took him to the vet to see about his rock eating habit, and he was hit with a crisis of this paralysis and there was nothing else for it but to send him off. He was trying to breathe through a passage of about 1/8 of an inch, this after all the drugs possible to take down swelling and ease his stress. He couldn't cool himself off and his tongue was turning blue.

He killed many vermin in his time, and chased away a burglar. He scared gangbangers and caused them to go to the other side of the street. He was also as mellow as the day is long and in the classic way that big dogs have, tolerated the loving "attention" of two little kids, while making sure that no one who shouldn't come near them ever did.

He 86 pounds of love, and power and total peculiarity, and we had him for two more years than we thought we would; a testament to the hardiness of mutts. We all miss him, but all dogs go to heaven, right? He certainly should.