An Ode to Our Family Dog Rush, A Perfect Gentleman

I grew up with dogs. I knew what a positive asset they were and how they can impact the family happy meter. I wanted a dog for my kids—the perfect dog…

Rush came into our lives in February 2009. I’ll always remember the day when we first saw him when we went to visit the farm where he was born. He was four months old and the breeder Jenny wanted to make sure our family was a good fit for her prized dog—he was so amazing he even played the piano (a children’s plastic one—but still!)

There was a pond in the yard and of course my oldest son Will took the lead and Meredith, Mimi and Teddy followed suit…around they went by the waters edge as Rush stepped right in line with them—an immediate knowing filled me…he was the perfect dog for us.

When we got home with him there wasn’t any kind of adjustment period, he didn’t use a crate, have accidents or any awkward moments with the kids…he was the perfect fit and fell right into the rhythm of our daily life.

It was just the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Over the years Rush became an integral part of our day-to-day lives. I remember walks up to Franklin Elementary School to wait by the fence for Mimi and Teddy to come out of the school doors when the bell rang. He was a big dog and sometimes I had a hard time walking him—in those early days he mostly walked me. He always wanted to run around the school field and chase balls. He was so happy to see everyone we met.

As soon as we arrived home from school at 3:00 he knew that it was time for his “dinner.” He looked forward to this moment every day of his life. Kids home—time to eat!

Whenever anyone wanted a hug or to feel better Rush was your guy. Dad especially took advantage of this gift coming home from work saying, “there’s my guy, the big blackie.” You could often find dad down on the ground hugging and petting Rush. He loved every minute of all this attention.

Rush also loved his second home in the mountains and his time there. We have so many memories of him swimming at Margarets, Red Rock and the Falls. He was the most free there. Life was good.

He was so handsome with his black shiny hair and lean strong body. I loved watching him run. Even in his later years when he was taking his daily supplement for joint pain—once he got outside he had a renewed lease on life running free through the woods and streams.

Rush was there with us through all the good years raising our family—every important life moment; graduations, boy scout hikes in the reservation, sporting events, birthday parties and pepperoni pizza night— his absolute favorite! He would bark like crazy until you gave him a slice.

The only time we ever left him behind it was with family. He would go down the street and stay with his cousin Oliver. He loved those little vacations away from home. They were so good to him. He never spent a night in the kennel. Lucky guy!

Everything changed the summer of 2019 when our yellow lab puppy Luna arrived on the scene. She was small and fierce and Rush was not happy about the arrival of his annoying sister. Sometimes I felt like he was looking at me and saying “Mom, how could you do this to me?!”

Luna LOVED Rush. He tolerated her.

When the electric fence guy came to train Luna about the borders of the property he said that his job would be easy because Rush would teach Luna everything she needed to know. And it was true. As crazy as she was as a puppy Luna is a sweet, affectionate and well-behaved dog because of Rush’s gentle guidance.

When this great and graceful giant started to slow down last fall we were not ready for what was to come. And for a lot of the time we tried not to see what was happening to him. He always seemed to “bounce back.”

Twelve years of our lives were occupied by his glorious presence, how could we ever be ready to say goodbye?

Sadly the day came when we had to make the difficult decision to let him go. The kids all came home and the six of us gathered around him in the front hallway of our white house on the hill and had what I like to call a love fest. We circled around him with praises of thanks and a lot of love and tears (there may have been some pepperoni pizza too).

Rush Robertson crossed over into the great Mystery on December 18th, 2021.

Gone, but never forgotten, our memories will endure and love lasts forever.

Blessings to all the doggies and the joy they bring to our lives.

-Pam xx