Elbert
Elbert is the hardest to describe. He really was everything you could hope for in a dog. Very loyal. Always happy to see you. Played by himself perhaps better than any dog you have ever seen. If sometimes people have a tendency to humanize their animals, Elbert could solve that: he was all dog.
Elbert was always on the move. As a puppy, he used to run every chance he got. He traveled with me extensively. We'd fly into a town on Sunday night, sneak into the hotel, and play all week. Friday mornings he would get dropped off at a local groomer. (We would make sure that he didn't get bows in his hair!). I would pick him up on the way to airport and we would go home. At Rosegill, I would often walk the mile long driveway to get the morning paper. A two mile walk for me would often mean a 6-8 mile run for Elbert. He would run back and forth wondering why I was so slow!
He was also nosy. He wanted to see what you were doing. Even if he was tired (which wasn't too often), he would make sure he was checking things out. Sometimes you could see his brain at work while he figured something out.
Our loss of Elbert was unexpected. He had always been so healthy. He developed a cough which we didn't worry too much about since it was so infrequent. But later it become more persistent and the wonderful vets thought it might be an inflammation. It turned out to be be throat cancer. We had about 10 days left with one of my best friends.
We probably will have other dogs, but only one Elbert.