Chili was truly our furbaby and our love for each other was immeasurable. She spent each Friday with me in my law office, on a 50 ft leash. She happily greeted each client as they walked through the door. Only six and a half years (and two kids) later, Chili died from an infection- we were completely shocked and truly heartbroken. We missed her and that dog energy in the house. Not to replace (never) but to refocus, we started our search on www.petfinder.com and found our next dog, Charlie, at a shelter nearby. We adopted Charlie only 5 days after losing Chili. Too soon? Nope. That is a personal question for each person. Charlie helped us heal our broken hearts, and we knew Chili would be happy to know we saved another dog. Charlie was a 100 lb mix of German Shepherd, Chow, Collie, and a bunch of other breeds- and yet again, 100% love. He had the coolest Eddie Munster-like widow’s peak on his forehead- he was a really handsome boy.
During his lifetime we had another three children; and he was always a major player in the family. He even achieved legendary status for saving our two-year-old from falling down the stairs by grabbing her sweatshirt hood in his mouth. Sure, it was he that clumsily knocked her down the stairs to begin with but… we try not to focus on that detail!
With diplomatic precision, he protected us from anyone that had come to work in the house merely by staying between us and them- all the while wagging his tail and smiling. He bravely protected our yard from the vicious chipmunks and birds, and his skillful barking surely worked each time someone came to make a delivery- for each time they turned around and left (after dropping off the package, that is.)
Charlie Brown Feinberg was the inspiration for my writing the first iteration of my book Please Don’t Tell Cooper He’s A Dog. He definitely never thought he was a dog, I am sure. He seemed to understand so much of what we were saying, even when our words were not those we trained him with. We could say things for the first time and he would show somehow that he understood. He could also make his desires very clear to us. We found ways to communicate with each other that just made sense to all. When we bought a dog bed we could sense his excitement as if he were thinking “Yay!! Are we finally getting a dog?!?!” He never set a paw on that dog bed. Never. Not once.
December 2020
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