A couple of months after Pat and I started dating, we got a dog from the Humane Society. On the drive home he shit in the car and took off in a Walmart parking lot. We loved him anyway.
His name came about strictly by fave band at the time and thus, Greenday began his life with us. Greenday was an awesome dog. Not too big, not too small, very very smart and very very protective. He LOVED hiking. He would get uber excited when he would see me starting to load up the car with packs and gear but let me tell you, when he saw his OWN little pack come out? You'd swear he was having a heart attack. He would hike in front of us on every trail, run ahead a bit, scout it out, run back to us, run ahead, sniff this and that, stop and wait for us to catch up, and run ahead some more. He loved it out there. He was an outdoor dog. This was his element.
Greenday saved Pat's bacon more than once (lost in the bushes and completely directionless, arguing with a dog who ended up being right in his insistence that they go HIS way, and just about dying in a warm up shack that filled with smoke while Pat slept until Greenday made the most god awful gutteral noises and woke him up.) He has also kept me company in the car and on the trail when I've had to work and meet up with everyone out in the woods later on. While not entirely chatty, he was someone to talk to and kept me awake.
When McKinley was born, we were super pumped to get the two of them together and bonding. We waited awhile to introduce them and when we did....spots. Not sparks. Spots. In the form of little red bumps on my sweet little newborns skin. Ugh. Allergy. Super. So after much talking and worrying and wondering what to do, we decided that Greenday deserved more than being a second thought and a constant "don't let the dog touch the baby!" worry and we chose to try and find a new home for him. We had a few people respond to our ad and then one day, in walked a family from the country. They had an outdoor dog named Rogue who they desperately wanted a companion for. Greenday and Rogue met each other in the confines of our garage and hit it off like they had known each other forever. The family lived on a big piece of land in the country and Greenday would spend his days running around outside with Rogue, his new BFF.
We got letters and updates from the family for awhile and when the last one read, "our vet is astounded that these two aren't related. He has never seen two unrelated, non-sibling dogs have such a close bond and connection", we knew it was time to butt out of his new life and let him be with his new family.
We have told mck endless stories about Greenday and while she still is not super comfortable around dogs, she's getting there. She may very well have grown out of her allergy but its hard to tell when she doesn't really pet any. But my point to this whole story is.........I think Greenday is living in Sage Creek now!!!!!!
Just after we moved in I saw a man walking a dog. I commented to myself, "Wow, that looks like Greenday". I would watch him in the backyard (it faces the street) and think it again. And then one day, I saw the man again. And he was walking TWO dogs. Now, I don't honestly remember exactly what Rogue looked like other than that he was brown. But if ever there were two dogs that looked like Rogue and Greenday, these were the two! Yesterday as we drove past, "Greenday" was outside. I told Pat to back up because he didn't believe me. He does now. I rolled down my window and called out the name and the dog looked up but I would think any dog would look up if he heard a lilty voice calling out. So while I don't discount it, I don't hold alot of hope to it. I think all we can do is try and come across the guy as he's walking them and ask their names. I'm guessing they probably changed Greenday's name unless they, too, were big fans.
Who knows. Maybe he's here. Maybe we get to see him in his later years. How freaking cool would THAT be???
