Igloo, AKA Furry Lips, AKA Wooby, but mostly just Iggy got his name as Tammy and I went letter by letter through the alphabet throwing out anything that came to mind the night we met and picked him from the litter.
Iggy was our first puppy. We met him when he was about 3 weeks old and he came home at 6 weeks, which was a surprise since we didn't expect him to be weened for another week or two.
We picked him because he was the outgoing, mischevious puppy of the litter. Even after his 17th birthday he liked to remind us how mischevious he could be if we forgot to block off the trash can.
We brought him home just before Christmas in Germany so his our first memories were of carrying him around the Christmas Markets - a cute little white fuzz-ball wrapped up in a t-shirt. By the way, he soon ate the pocket off that t-shirt, followed by a throw-rug in our military housing. Two more trips back and forth across the pond to the States and back to Germany made him a world traveler.
He even rode the sub-way in Berlin and marked territory on the Berlin wall!
A bit later, he decided a ball point pen would make a good snack and had the ink spots on his tongue for the rest of his life. Yep, the outgoing mischievous one he certainly was.
He was great company and comfort to Tammy while I was traveling with the Army, and was always the gentle kind one (something Eskie's aren't really known for) even when his bully of a brother, Sam the Corgi would pick a fight.
He walked off-leash among lions and elephants for his "final exam" after he finished his first obedience course and survived being poisoned by a careless Army contractor in CA.
Oh Jim, I'm so truly sorry for your loss. I don't know what it is about dogs that get under our skin the way they do but they always leave an indelible mark on us - rather like the ink stains on Iggy's tongue.
May God bless and keep him until you can one day be reunited.
Sorry for your loss, Jim and Tammy. Your image of him is so special and I thank you for sharing your memories of him. Made me smile thinking of the life that he led. I hope that your memories comfort you.
Thanks everyone. I really hope to come across an Iggy-hair lined nest this year. Maybe I'll even be lucky enough to get to photograph the whole, eggs to fledglings cycle and preserve the nest after the birds are done with it.
We have found them before lined with the hair we put out for them, so we'll see.
RIP Igloo
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