That's a great story.

^^^ nice pics & stories !

Follow up - at almost a year old now, our Jazz has turned into a hairy little thing.

What does a bike guy name a honey brown dog? Brooks of course!



Brooks was a rescue dog and he's a Pit/Ridgeback mix. He still has some issues from his tough childhood, but overall is the best dog I ever knew.


* Long story, but I promise no saddles were harmed in the making of this collar.

We had a Lab mix years ago I had named Desmo. People really struggled with the name and she became Desi after a couple of years just to cut down on the explanations. But Desmo Dogs are good dogs.....

xx

I have had three dogs; a lab, and two golden retrievers, both males, It is hard to beat the character, intelligence, and charisma of a GR. Happy spent 7 of his 12 years without a front left paw, but what a great dog, who was my "little boy." Never stayed in a kennel, friends would line up to do sit when needed.



Well loved as shown in notes from friends after he went to dog heaven.

My entire family cried about Happy. Thinking about you this week. We really did love our time with him. We felt it when he left us the last time.

Thank you for sending this. I”m so sad for you right nowh. What a wonderful dog. “Happy" truly does convey his spirit.
--
Paula Gardner
Editor
The Ann Arbor News
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Dear David, We are so sorry to hear about Happy. He was the nicest dog that I have ever met. I know that you will miss him very much, but you are thinking of Happy. Again we are sorry! All our best Debby

Sent from my iPad
Conrad + Deb
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Oh David.... heavy heart indeed. Thanks for letting us know, though we were sad all the way home from Adam's ranch. Needless to say I know what a hole he leaves in many hearts.. a bunch of them on Day St for sure.

Many many hugs.... thanks for sending the pictures also. What a brave, warm and yes, happy spirit he shared with all of us.....

Barb + Barry
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@ik, the




AQmWell said! Better than I could with tears in my eyes.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 13, 2014, at 2:15 PM, Strich, Marc <MStrich@Taubman.com> wrote:

David,

Thank you for all the care and partnership you have given Happy (aka Casey) for all of these years.

We had rescued him from a dysfunctional family (in Palatine, IL) at the age of 7 months, and you were there to take him when we couldn’t give him the amount of attention that he needed. While it tore our hearts to give him up, it was such a blessing knowing that he would be in such good hands (yours). I remember you rushing to Naperville to get him when I first called you, and then seeing how well things had worked out whenever we got to visit you in A2. Kiddingly, we called these visits our “annual visitation rights”, but knew that we never had to worry about him while he was in your care.

Like Victors, Happy will always have a special place in your heart. You will never find “another Happy”, as he can never be replaced. Instead, I hope that you find another “golden” to carry on the blessed relationship (and responsibility) that we are entrusted with.

Happy will soon join Victors and Ali in our hearts, running towards us with their favorite toys in their mouths. The “Golden Pack” will forever grow with likes of Gabby, Oliver (our newest) and other great Golden Retrievers who are such an important part of our lives. Unfortunately, our “responsibility” also includes helping them when the inevitable time comes to say goodbye.

Best wishes, and thanks for making Casey so “Happy”,

Marc Philippe Strich
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David, we are so sorry about Happy! What a great dog! What a great friend and companion! We wish him a peaceful passage, and you a peaceful heart. Let me know if I can help you in any way this week.

Larry
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Sending Big love, David. Happy is a fantastic spirit and I'm glad to have known him.
All the best to you and the family and hope to see you soon.

Nate Nemon———————————————————————————————————————
Sorry to hear this David. Happy was a sweet, happy and kind dog and both myself and my kids will miss him greatly look forward to seeing you this Saturday.

Kelly
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David,

A BIG hug to you and to Happy/Casey. What a sweetie. We will never forget him.

I’m sure in doggie heaven he will find his favorite frog toy again and be able to chase it and play with it on all fours once again.

Thank you for letting us know.

With a hug,
-prue
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Oh David my heart is breaking. Please let us know if there is ANYTHING we can do. We will always have fond memories of Happy and the times we spent together. Your email is a great tribute to Happy's life. You have been a wonder companion to Happy and you have shared great times together...no one can take that away.

Tears
Much love,
Lisa + Frank
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I am not ashamed to say I have been crying for the last couple of days. It was time David, he was in so much pain you could see it in his eyes. And he got to see the two people who loved him the most help him to rest in peace. God Bless Happy. It better be a long time before I have to do this again......
Gwen

David,

I’m so sorry. And I’m so pleased I got to give him a last pat.

He lived up to his name in every way, right up until the end…and clearly, from your stories about his ‘escape’ into Grosse Pte. Park, he retained his sense of adventure and curiosity about people. As a long-time dog person, you have learned the important lesson about dogs…their lives are shorter than ours so that we have the honor of learning how many different personalities they have, and how each one touches us differently.

That doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.
Susan

My wife has called him Desi from the beginning, she likes to think he's named after Desi Arness but he's not!

His name when we got him was "Lucky" but we changed it. My neighbor (probably 15 years my senior) was asking about his name. I explained it, and then added his name was Lucky when we got him but I just couldn't have a dog named Lucky. He then told me his first dog's name was Lucky. Oops... I wanted to say "yeah, but you were what, 8 years old?" but didn't want to risk burying myself deeper.

Ducati lore has it that the term "desmo" is roughly translated as "controlled". In younger days he would fall into what later became known as "Desi Storms" where he might do something like run laps around the inside of the house like a crazy dog, using the couch as a banked turn. So it was like naming a Great Dane "Tiny". In 14 years of having him around, only one person caught on to the irony of his name.

Once once people see my garage/basement, they understand the name. For a long time I had seven Ducatis sitting around in various states of usefullness.

For those who are completely lost, Ducati is a brand of motorcycle. They are known for using desmodromic valvetrains, as in no valve springs. Hence the engine in a modern Ducati is often refered to as a Desmo. I am/was a pretty rabid Ducati fan for many years. It only made sense to name my dog Desmo.

Finally a couple pictures to illustrate things. Forgive my rambling here, Desmo has had a rough couple of days and I'm feeling sentimental.

A pic of Desmo next to a desmo.




Earlier bikes (from when my infatuation with them was born) were labeled as Desmos. And now everyone knows more than they ever wanted to about where Desmos name, and then my user name, came from.


EDIT: That picture is smaller than I thought. The point was supposed to be that it says "DESMO" on the fairing near the front there. And I can't leave Sophia out (name inspired by Sophia Loren BTW) so here's a little video I out together a couple days after she died.

https://www.teamyikes.com/sophia/SophiaVid.mov


.

Great video, thanks for sharing Craig. Sharp Ducatis too.

My Mothers Bulldog, Peaches, that I cared for until her end. I loved that dog!
Our new dog is a Cairn terrier named Molly. Joy to us and a terror to the squirrels in the back yard.

Oh, wow. That looks like a scene straight out of my house...except that the gray cat is enjoying getting his face licked, and all the nice towels/blankets/furniture have been chewed up.

I need a livestock scale to weigh the dog and he's grown a ton since his last vet visit, so I estimate 120-130 pounds of love. When you need some doggy wool, Riley really delivers!

Sasha, part Chi-part Pug

Molly, the blond, part Lab- part Pit - Dixie, the red, a rescue

BB the Westie

9 yr old Golden Retriever and 1 yr old Great Pyrenees mix. The Pyr is our 3rd and we forgot about the volume of hair these dogs drop all over the place.

This is Nina, a four year old Shepherd mix rescue.

And Hobbs and Osito, both rescues, A Carolia dog and Flat Coat Retriever, RIP.

Cassie, a 4 year old rescue, who certainly has some herding in her genetics. The best watch dog ever, and an absolute terror if your a squirrell.

I posted these in that "other" dogs thread but will gladly repeat them here. We do that with our bike pix when we get the chance, right?

Annie, the current resident.
Acheesecake.JPG

The next two are gone but not forgotten. Hank, a retired hunter.
Hank glowing eyeball.JPG

Giles.
Giles beach.JPG

Fritz is my rescue Shepherd. 10 yrs old and just as active as ever. He's obviously a fan of Die Mannschaft when World Cup rolls around.

Beautiful dog!

This was Ryder. Our family rescued him 11 years ago as a companion animal for our youngest son.


This was his preferred spot if I was sitting on the sofa. I was the only one who could sit still for hours on end, so I "won" the dog normally. He craved constant human contact, and was always ready for a snuggly nap. Had no tolerance for horseplay however. My son and I were quickly scolded by him if we engaged in any sort of wrestling or goofing around.


Sadly we lost him Tuesday evening in a freak driveway accident. It was tough, but we got to say goodbye as we attempted to save him.
He had a good 11 years at our house, but it was/is tough to see him go like that.
Ryder was a rescue animal, having been found in a cornfield by a FedEx driver, in a box full of his siblings. He was the only one who survived. He and our youngest son bonded immediately.
He was a generally a dick, but quite lovable and affectionate. We were glad to have provided him a loving home, but I sure had hoped to have him around awhile longer.
It's actually quite difficult to see pics of him right now.

His wish is my command.

Willis. 8 lbs (on a good day) of fighting fury. He is currently on double secret probation after I found a wood duck has laid an even dozen eggs under a cedar in my front yard.

I can't participate in this thread for two reasons: one, I don't have dogs, I have cats and two, I don't have enough posts to show pictures of my cats. Nonetheless, I've really enjoyed seeing pictures of folks' mostly canine companions. Even though they aren't dogs, the Guinea pig pictures were great.

I'll play...
Winnie, snoodle, pasted away two Novembers ago. Always a live wire. Stayed a puppy her entire life. Did not know how to do "unhappy".




Enter Cookie, a rescue Pit mix. Very different than Winnie. Most of the time very mellow. A little love muffin. Giving me a kiss after a sweaty bike ride.