I'll admit to not being a big dog fan... they take a LOT of work to raise right, and I never had the time or energy to do both kids and a dog. Enter Pete.
We moved to LA in 2002 (I in April, my wife and kids end of May), and met a family who owned a dog named Pete. Pete's age was unknown, but he was found in a ditch, covered with red ants, in around May of 2002, right about the time we arrived... he was likely a Lab/Blue Heeler mix. That family had two boys who were in my daughters' grades, 4 years apart, with the oldest actually both being Christmas babies 2 days apart. I met Pete in the course of things and mentioned to the mom that if I had to have a dog, I'd want him to be like Pete...
Fast forward to May, 2008... the kids are in 7th and 11th grade and mom dies of cancer (the boys biological father, a state trooper, having been killed in the line of duty in 1995). Step-dad is devastated, but they survive... Fast forward to April, 2009... kids are now in 8th and 12th grades... I get a call from my wife at work. Their stepdad, the man who helped me build the stitch and glue canoe below (in 2007), has died of a massive heart attack... Grandmother comes to stay with them through the end of the school year (May in LA, so about 6 weeks). Their aunt will go on to take in the youngest, but will not take the dog. Oldest is going to college and can't take the dog... so guess what... Pete became my daughter's dog, and we had him for 8 years... he passed away in the summer of 2017, likely from an infection related to a tumor.
He was mostly pretty good; knew all the trick commands and obeyed them... never jumped on you. you could take food out of his mouth even after he'd started chewing it. he never met anyone he didn't like. I could let him off leash in the woods, and he'd generally stay just in front of me, but would come, stop, or go on command... except when he got a nose full of coon... i could even call him off deer he jumped... but he got entirely stupid with a nose full of coon scent. He would also sit pretty still in a canoe, though i didn't really have enough time to work with him on that as much as I would have liked. He definitely liked to go outside.
So, here's Pete shortly after we got him, probably around 2009, enjoying a cruise.
And here he is out hiking, slightly different time-frame (my daughter liked that shirt for some reason).
So, fast forward to 2020... Pete's been gone a little while, but is fondly remembered. My daughter is now 25... and the young man who was her classmate? Well, after 18 years, they finally decided they like each other a little more than friends, and are cautiously working toward some sort of relationship (she's in NY, he's still in LA)... they always did things their own way, even as kids... we'll see how this one turns out, but I may have another son in law soon... (His older brother's doing fine too).
