Dear Prudence

Pru coming home from Greyhound Friends.

Prudence Wakefield, my sweet and beautiful first dog, died May 31, 2009 of heatstroke.   Here is a dog obituary and memorial, of sorts. 

Prudence was born on May 4, 2003, bred for racing in West Virginia.  Her race name was Value Plays.  That name makes no sense; we realize this.  She raced until she was 4 or so, and won 15 out of 131 races.  Check out her stats and pedigree here (Please note that her father and grandfather were the same dog.  We think this may account for her lack of genius). 

First day as Prudence.

We met Pru at Greyhound Friends of North Carolina in February 2008, only a day or two after she arrived at the kennel.  We picked her out because she was sweet and calm.  Her first name of course, comes from my favorite Beatles song.  Her unofficial last name, Wakefield, is an homage to Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield of the Sweet Valley High series.  She was sometimes dubbed, among other things, Prudie Pie, Sweetie Pru, Pru Face, Pork-a-Pru, Prudential, and Prudical the Musical. 

Christmas Pru.

Prudence came home with us on February 16, 2008.  She was unbelievably shy in the beginning, and never really required correction.  In fact, she did something mischievous so rarely that when she did, we usually laughed in amazement rather than scolding her.  She remained the sweetest, calmest dog I’ve ever met until the end, but eventually developed some definite personality. 

Pru cuddling with Oliver.

Chillin in the yard.

Seemed like Saturday mornings were her favorites, with both of us home and the promise of a long morning walk looming.  When we would both appear in the living room, she would crouch into play mode and spin in circles, occasionally letting out an involuntary bark, which usually seemed to surprise her.  Prudence barely ever barked, but when she was excited we would sometimes bark at her until she barked back. 

Lucy sits on Pru. Pru exercises her favorite emotion: indifference

Prudence didn’t show affection too readily, but in recent months I felt like she loved us a little more than before.  When we petted her, she would lean into us and rest her head on our knees.  She also had a penchant for licking our toes with a rather disturbingly sensual concentration.  Of course, she looked the same way when she licked the hardwood floor. 

Friends and noses.

Prudence spent most of her time on her pillow looking innocent, but she was a secret wildlife assassin.  In the backyard, she caught and killed the following, in this order, with a combination of stalking and bursts of speed: mouse, bird, squirrel.  At the beach with the Jordan family last summer, we spent a night pointing out crabs and letting her chase and bark at them.  She finally caught and chomped a little one.  It was a great source of entertainment for both her and us.

Pru:1 Crab: 0

Prudence went through obedience school in Spring 2008, but she was pretty hopeless.  Not only could I not get her to sit, neither could the very experienced teachers.  Eventually I got her to sit and down on the living room rug, but only when hot dog was present.  And she never really seemed to learn the difference between sit and down; the presence of hot dog would just cause her to do one or the other until she was rewarded.

It was her indifference that made her the victim of such things.

The rare upside down sleeping pose, making her look more like a space creature than usual.

There were many signs that our sweet Pru was not the brightest crayon in the box, but our favorite was the night that she returned to the back door happily…with her own poop smeared on her shoulder (and nowhere else). It’s hard to picture a scenario in which this could have happened, but she managed it.

Pru in the Illinois snow.

Happy dog.

On the other hand, Pru could be sneaky. Generally, she could be trusted to leave our food well enough alone, even if we ate it while sitting on the living room floor, right in front of her face. One evening we hosted our church small group and Pru lay on her pillow as we prayed.  Slowly, she inched her way off the pillow, into the middle of our circle, and just close enough to an abandoned plate to snatch a piece of bread off of it, all as we prayed.  We never saw it coming.

Pretty dog.

Wet and clean dog.

 Pru’s least favorite things: the door of the TV cabinet, baths, eating on time, the Farmer’s Market, carrots,  socks on her nose.  Pru’s favorite things: Hot dogs, expensive cheese, chewing up Nick’s empty Lactaid packets, gently chomping her toys, running figure 8s, the moment right before it was time to open the door and go for a walk, the beach, Nick, Dave and Jenna, Lucy’s house, walking between two people, stealing socks, sleeping, being scratched on the neck.

Emerald Isle, March 2008

Prudence, we are picturing you dancing around on your hind legs in Dog Heaven.  Thanks for adding so much happiness to our lives.