He was, simply put, my ride or die. Our beloved Dunder left us yesterday after 14.5 years in the family. He outlived his sister by 16 months which was a shock to all of us as she was the ring leader of the two. And while I loved them both, Dunder was MY guy. I knew it from the day we picked them up as pups. He came over to me with those big eyes and just stared at me like "of course you're taking me home" and I was hooked. Dunder was in every way a chocolate lab. That is to say he was big, beautiful and not the brightest bulb but that made me love him even more. It was pretty evident the first day we brought them home. Kona, a black lab, ran all over the yard sniffing and exploring wide eyed and tail wagging. What did Dunder do? He sat on the front porch and just chewed his tail for about an hour. This dog had me at hello
Among his many gifts Dunder had this innate ability to stare right at you or right at the camera. I've never seen a dog who could do this on a regular basis. He'd literally just stare you down with those big beautiful eyes and turn you into mush. He wasn't very needy and hardly demanding. He just wanted to be around you. If you were with him and left to go to another room, he'd just follow you to wherever you went and sit down right beside your feet. As big as he was he just as gentle. The breeder we got them both from said they were pure labs, but Dunder had this hilarious habit of howling while he slept. And I don't mean a soft little yelp... I mean a HOWL..like 100 decibels. We all thought he had to be part hound dog because of that and it just added to his persona. And when I say he was my ride or die.. I mean that literally.. his absolute favorite thing in the world to do was jump in the golf cart and go for a ride. Kona loved it too, but damn it Dunder would not be denied prime seating in that cart. It got to the point when all I had to do was look at him and say " Cart ride" and he would go absolutely nuts.
He was a sloppy dog too. The kisses came in bunches and they were relentlessly smelly and wet. He always seemed to have the double drool bombs going sometimes all the way from his mouth to the floor😂. He shed all the time relentlessly, just droves and piles of thick chocolate brown hair everywhere, it was awesome. Every time we gave him a shower I swear he left 10 pounds of hair in the drain. One of his favorite things to do was chase you around the island in the kitchen. He'd get nervous if you walked to the other side and he couldn't see you, so we played this game where I'd run around staying just out of sight and he'd go crazy trying to catch up to where he thought you were. Eventually he'd actually put his front legs up on the island and try and jump over it to the other side just so he could see where you were. I told you he wasn't that smart right? Well that's how he survived a bear attack.
This was the result of him sprinting out of the back of the house to run right up to the face of a Momma bear crossing the golf course with two cubs. He literally ran right up to her nose to nose before realizing.. this is NOT a good idea. She could have taken him right then and there, instead just gave him a little warning swipe that left with those puncture wounds and some scrapes. There was also the time he came back with a nose full of quills after saying hello to a porcupine, or the time he came back from the woods smelling as if he'd just been sprayed by a skunk, because he had. My guy was always finding trouble. Oh did I mention he loved to eat goose poop? This was not a dog for those who can't handle everything a dog would get into, and that's what made him awesome
The last two years were pretty rough on him. He survived 5 cancer surgeries on his back left leg, and that was his good back leg. His right leg was completely shot due to arthritis. As you can see he wasn't as mobile as he used to be so he put on some weight but we didn't care. We were just happy to see him for another day. Eventually the tumors kept coming back and the doctor said he wouldn't survive another surgery to remove them, so we knew this was coming. He was an amazing pillar of strength over the last year and half: the tumors were always growing back and his right back leg essentially was just there keep his balance. But he never stopped wanting to be here, wanting to be with us, until the last few days. He stopped eating and we knew it was time, but that doesn't make it any easier. The picture below was his last cart ride ever, from about three weeks ago.
He couldn't even sit up in it anymore but dammit he wanted to go on that ride so we took it. The house feels a little empty now. I keep coming home wondering where he is and I assume that's going to be the case for a long time. He wasn't a pet, he was a friend, he was FAMILY. A gentle soul has left us and I can't begin to tell you what I wouldn't trade for one last sloppy kiss, one last howl while he sleeps, one last " oh my GOD what did you get yourself into now?" moment. As he toughed out the last 18 months we had a saying around these here parts: Dunder is king. The king has left the building, but long may he reign, forever.
