Benya/Bobo

Last Monday night, in the middle of the night, Benya died. It was unexpected, and we have every reason to believe that it was quick and not agonizing.

We are pretty devastated. Benya was only four, and such a beloved, integral part of our family. We knew that big dogs have shorter lifespans, but we felt certain we had years ahead with Bobo. We've reflected on the extent to which the Bobo had to take a backseat after Maybelle came along. I guess this is what always happens when a child enters the family, but we both feel less than ideal about it. Biffle did some research and believes that Benya died from an adrenal gland issue that we might have caught if we'd been more attentive. She'd been increasingly inactive, but we just hadn't really hadn't taken the time to notice. The Bobo still seemed to take it all in stride.

Benya had many talents: tolerance, a good attitude, and ferocity when needed. But let's talk about the Bobo's truly astonishing talent: she was the perfect dog for a home with a little kid. This was a talent that we didn't know about when we got her, because she was a year old before we had Maybelle. It turns out, though, that she had outstanding kid instincts. Protective instincts? Absolutely. But also caretaking instincts. When Maybelle was little, she'd try to feed Benya from her high chair. Benya wanted the food, but couldn't successfully get it out of Maybelle's offering fingers because she wouldn't use her teeth, and her lips were too floppy. She tried multiple times to use her lips to pry the piece of toast or Veggie Booty out of Maybelle's hands, but she couldn't do it, so I finally took it and put it in her mouth myself. Just last week, Maybelle tried to give Benya a Milkbone, but despite how much she desperately wanted the Milkbone, Benya wouldn't take it from her hands.

That's not due to any training we offered Benya. That was her own choice.

She's been a central, and safe, part of Maybelle's life from the beginning. Bobo was Maybelle's first spoken word. She has offered every kind of unintentional abuse to Benya's body: falling on her, sitting on her, climbing up by pulling her fur, touching and identifying her eyes and nose and teeth. Bobo didn't mind. In recent months Maybelle decided that when we went for a walk, she was the one who'd get to hold Benya's leash. This also meant that when Maybelle stopped, she wanted Benya to stop, and when she started walking again, Benya was supposed to come along. Benya picked up on these requirements almost immediately and was an incredibly good sport.

Biffle has pointed out that due to a dog's short life span, a dog person is going to get to know a lot of dogs. All of them are special, but some of them are special-er than others. Bobo was certainly in that category.