We lost our dog Roscoe this week, after over thirteen years as a furry member of the family. It was not a surprise; he lived a very full life, and had been slowly declining over the past year or so. It made us sad nonetheless; it is amazing how attached you can become after so much time!
I spent some time this weekend going over some of our favorite pictures of Roscoe, and thought is would be fun to collect some of them here and tell Roscoe’s story, in pictures. So, if you knew Roscoe, or just like dogs, read on!
We picked up Roscoe from the breeder in Oroville, California in September of 2003
Yes, he was a cute pup, full of energy and mischief
Roscoe and Brian quickly formed a very sweet bond. I think Roscoe could tell Brian was the youngest, and was extra cuddly with him. Here, Brian is asleep, using Roscoe as a pillow
A boy and his dog
While Brian was the snuggler, Tyler was more of the playmate. Here, Roscoe is giving Tyler some kisses
Tyler and Roscoe hanging out
A nice lake was Roscoe’s all-time favorite thing…
… closely followed by snow! There is some debate about whether dogs can smile; Roscoe provided a conclusive answer to this!
Roscoe was a herding dog, and took his job seriously. Here, he is trying to “herd” as we start a toboggan run
He felt pretty strongly about herding the canoe as well
And swimmers too, of course!
When part of the herd got away, he would chase them down and bring them back
And when part of the herd got TOO far away, he was not happy until he saw them return
There is no doubt he was the happiest when the herd was assembled
He loved his Grama almost as much as he loved his boys
Baseball was one of his favorite pastimes. We tried calling it “executing code C” rather than “playing catch”, but he quickly figured that out, and would insist on playing too.
Roscoe played hard, and was not afraid of getting dirty…
… or of getting a little wet…
… or of collecting a few snowballs in his belly fur!
Tuckered out after a big day
Roscoe loved paddling, whether in a kayak…
… an inflatable…
… or a canoe
In his later years, he took a fancy to hiking, as long as he was [1] off leash, and [2] in some nice woods somewhere
He loved going to the beach…
… particularly his favorite beach on Lake George
He loved his road trips. Roscoe made it to thirty states in his thirteen years!
Although he didn’t always stay awake
Roscoe had his own twitter account, and tweeted one of his road trips
While he did appreciate art, he seemed a lot less impressed by his portrait (done by my good friend Jed Duncan, and currently hanging in our family room) than Karen and I were.
Roscoe spent his last summer at Lake George, and I think he believed he was in heaven
A serious moment. This is one of the last pictures of him that I took
Now that our last, furry child has moved on, we are truly empty-nesters! Certainly the end of a major (and wonderful) chapter in our lives…
Chateau Beeks Dot Com 