Old Bo

Today we will be burying Bo, our oldest black lab.  He died while on night duty, protecting the chicken coop.  Bo was between 13 and 14 years old.  He was a good dog, but had been sick lately.  His black whiskers had long turned white.  We thought of putting him down, but didn't have the heart to as he still enjoyed life, and still gave his signature tail thump to greet us.

Bo followed the younger girls everywhere, and stood on lifeguard duty while they swam in the pond.  If they went out too far, he would bark for them to come back in, and if they ignored him, he would jump into the water and swim out to them.

Allie dog and Bo, 2009.  The girls had a "wedding" and married the two dogs...

Elizabeth, Allie and Bo (in his younger years) 2009

He was huge, much larger than the average lab, and had huge jaws. In this huge mouth, he would help carry up firewood.

He used to be a cat chaser, and when younger his favorite game was to chase a cat up a tree and not let it down.  However, with time, he mellowed, and cats became his friend.  Often, the kittens would curl up with him and sleep in his warmth at night.  He was lame in one front leg, as was one of our black cats.  He took a special interest to that kitten and they were pals.

Bo and kitten, 2012, taken about 2 weeks before his death.

In his younger days he could be spotted on the FFA float, but the last 5 years he was on the 4H float.  He was in several 4H dog shows and literally stopped one show by decided in the middle of it that it was nap time.

He could play fetch for hours at a time.  If a visitor showed up with a kid, he would take a piece of wood to the kid and drop it at their feet.  That was his way of saying "hello, lets play".  He could not play with a ball, as he would pop them each time with his huge teeth.

If given a plastic soda pop bottle, he would first take off the lid, then he would chew the rest of the bottle.  But, always the lid had to be removed first.

I think Bo knew he wouldn't be around much longer.  He had been training Duke, the next black lab in farming 101 and childcare 101.
He also taught Duke, that when JD was to BBQ, it was the dogs duty to stand by.  JD always had to cook extra hot dogs and "accidentally" drop at least one or two for each dog.  If you forgot to drop them, Bo would remind you.

Rest in peace Bo, you were sure a good dog.