"If you knew him, you loved him"...
It's what I wrote August 4th, 2025, after Luke almost drowned in the pool, and we were sure we were going to lose him.
And today, we did.
And I'm glad I saved those obituary notes, written sloppily on tear-stained paper.
(The opening line was more like, "at least..you "might" have loved him if you knew him for a few days..weeks..or more likely..NEVER AT ALL!!")
It was the second time he cheated death, the first being a mini seizure on Father's Day, the second when we hadn't realized he had slipped into the deep end of the pool, after squeezing through the slots of the very secure fence.
He's been going downhill for a while now, with doggy dementia and failing vision that had him crashing into walls or hiding in obscure places like the power strip behind the tv.
But his congestive heart failure(a condition he's had since being a puppy) worsened, and he had a fifteen minute seizure this morning, and he could not stop coughing, and he could not drink, and we could not stay in denial any longer..we knew we had to do right by him, and we did.
The vet was absolutely wonderful, assuring us every step of the way.
I used to think it was the most horrible part of this profession..how could they do this on a daily basis? Put a beloved family member onto a cold slab, while loved ones surrounded him and said their goodbyes?
But now I see it's the most noble part of this very noble profession..and Dr. Karen Forbes of Berg Animal in Matawan made us actually visualize our happy, young poodle..crossing that Rainbow Bridge and passive-aggressively greeting his furry canine friends and foes.
So this is what I wrote in August, after he refused food after the near drowning, but Dr. Karen proscribed an appetite stimulant that turned him into a lean, mean, eating canine machine just a few days later.
(And we just discovered how much he loved frozen Italian meatballs on our last supermarket run..I think I'm going to cry next time I open the freezer and see so many uneaten ones)
He was Luke Brian, ( from “Family Guy”) according to official AKC papers, but he had a million nicknames, Lucas Maxwell( the name of the son of someone from my Lamaze class) and Lukey and Lucifer and crazy poodle and a million others that I'm too sad to remember now.
We chose "Luke" so he'd fit into the KEN-"L" (alliteration) club, fitting nicely with his best friend Leo, and his cousin Lulu, a poodle mix and pure bred poodle, respectively, who will be giving him grief on the Rainbow Bridge today.
We got him from a crazy breeder who sent him home with luxation (a chronic disease in the arthritis family) and pin worms and official papers that called him a white/cream colored female.
(He was an apricot male, and typing the word "was" is very painful right now)
Oh, was he a lovable nut, this one.
Trick-or-treaters were warned to beware of the ten pound miniature poodle with the looks of a poodle and the personality of a Rottweiler.
I'm not sure "Batman" ever recovered from his encounter with him.
Evan always called this "Napoleon Syndrome"..the need to dominate to compensate for his stature.
We'll think of his groomer, who loved our tennis-ball-obsessed previous poodle, Max, and would refer to Luke as a "challenge."
(Her actually word was "vicious")
We'll think of frightened mailmen and guests to our home who knew their places..which was far away from him.
I'll think of Luke every time I see a torn bed sheet, a viscerated stuffed animal, or a comforter that had to be replaced yearly.
YEARLY!!
(He just couldn't help himself)
I'll see those things and still insist that this poodle was "just a pussycat."
I'll get comfort when I picture him kissing the Yorkie Leo, who lived next door, through the chain link fence. Leo was his best friend..until he got attention from another person or another dog. Then all bets were off!
I'll picture this little pisher screaming at Jim for not carving a freshly roasted chicken fast enough, or how chew toys would turn him into such a possessive little imp that we eventually had to ban them.
(Jim's fingers still have the scars)
The pain of having to say goodbye to him today is still so raw, but these happy(and sometimes not so happy!) memories will help us cope.
And it was very comforting to be in that room with Jim and Evan and his very compassionate wife, Michelle.
The upcoming weeks will be easier for us..no more Nature's Miracle to clean up frequent accidents, no more terror that he was going to pass under the pet sitter's watch, no more hearing that frightening cough or fearing that the thrashing in bed was more than just a bad dream.
But I'm going to miss this little bugger..more than you'll know
He had a very long, very happy life.
He would have celebrated turning seventeen in July.
I think I still hear him ringing the bell to go outside..or was that a growl??
(Probably the latter..from my stomach. I'm too sad to eat)
RIP Luke..we loved you!!
