The Beeste of My Dreams

Today, I was walking to the farm to have lunch with the hub. I looked up ahead and saw a lady walking a huge dog. When I caught up to them, I discovered that the massive mammal was a Great Pyrenees boy named Rex. He was very cute and smelly and he reminded me of my big old rug of a sheepdog named Willy. Also Wildebeest. Also the Beest.

I think that the same way everybody secretly has an Academy Award speech memorized, everybody has a notion of their perfect dog and Willy was mine. My friend found a sign in a pet store that said "Free Old English Sheepdog" with a phone number. She copied it down and gave it to me. I called and arranged a meeting. The hub and I went to their house and met...the
Most Perfect Dog in the World. He was 100 pounds of fur with a grey body, white head and a grey left ear flap. Turns out the lady who lived at the house loved the dog but her husband was afraid he'd mess up their oak floors so she kept this rambunctious sweetie on a short leash all the time.

Despite his wife's efforts, and without telling her, the husband went and put the sign up in the pet store. I'd have gotten rid of the husband. But, lucky us! We got our Beest! We named him Willy after the Credence Clearwater song "Down On the Corner" about Willy and the poor boys.
Willy was bred to be a show dog, in fact his brother was in the movies (He played Nana in "Hook"), but Willy was sold to the wrong people and wound up matted, underweight and sad.

He perked up after he came to live with us and became the perfect dog. The hub, who was skeptical at first, decided he wanted a herd of beests. Willy followed me everywhere. Apparently, male sheepies can be a little snarfy so our vet got down on the ground with Willy and gave him a shove to see what he'd do. Willy came galoomphing back and asked for more. The vet played with him some more and after a while I think he actually forgot I was there. He said "You got the movie dog!" I think he wanted to keep him. Everybody did except Mr. Oak Floors.

Besides a lactose intolerance situation, which we didn't recognize at first but became clear when gave him cheese nummies for treats, and the brushing, he was an easy dog. He loved eggs, shells and all, and he liked to heard kids like they were sheep. Willy was a counter surfer extraordinaire and due to his size, nothing was out of his reach. He would sneak around the perimeter of a room to steal a cookie or a pizza slice he felt was being guarded too closely. All that would remain was a few crumbs and a giant, wet slurp mark.

One day, my sister was petting him and said " Oh - I can feel where they removed his tail! (Sometimes they're docked sometimes they're surgically removed) She rubbed him for a while then realized that her finger was positioned a little lower than she thought. She screamed and ran to wash her hands - for a really long time. Willy loved my sister.

When I got to the big dog and his lady, I couldn't stop thinking of Willy. Lucky thing, because it was cold and I didn't have my mittens so my big, sweet Beest occupied my brain for the rest of the walk. I've had a number of dogs in my life but I've never mourned one as long as I have Willy. He's been gone 11 years. I guess that's what happens when you find the perfect dog.