Nuki is my friend. He is a Japanese spitz, born 13th July 2009.
Each morning he wakes me up early with a soft murmur. I get up and dress, drink a glass of water and give him his medicines. He has issues with his joints and gall bladder. He likes to take the medicine with a slice of chicken fillet.
Then I put on the clothes, considering the weather I check beforehand, his vest and go to check out the neighbourhood. He is very keen on guarding and patrolling “his” area, marking it for any intruders to know he is the king here. Oftentimes, I would talk with him about the weather, observations about the environment, and commenting him about his bad behavior towards other dogs. He always made very clear to other doggies about them not having the right to be in or around His Kingdom.
There are only three or four other dogs he ever accepted as a friend. In our current neighbourhood, there is this one small, old black poodle lady, and another Japanese Spitz, younger lady that he likes. Others are just Enemies that must be banished.
Then we return to home to prepare us breakfast. Since he is already old, I am not so tight about serving him treats in addition to the doggie breakfast. When I will have a glass of sour milk, I will also pour some for him in a small glass cup. And he gets to lick the inside of my glass when I’m done. Often also he waits by me for the last small piece of my bread, which I will offer him. When making porridge with frozen bilberries, he often likes to eat those too, one by one, from my hand. Good for your eyes, you know.
We are friends and we share what is good and tasty.
Then he takes a nap as I go through my work email with the laptop on the sofa. Lately he has started to come beside me to ask for some scratching and massaging his aching back. In human years, he is around 100, not the youthful healthy himself anymore.
Before I go to my remote workplace in the side building of our house, I often treat him with a piece of biscuit. For some reason he doesn’t like to come there but likes to stay in the main building. Never got to understand why that is.
When I return to main building for a cup of tea or lunch, he is often sleeping on the entrance floor and woke up to greet me. And of course, he is again very interested in what I was eating. And if there would be any treats for him too.
We used to take the afternoon walk around 1-2 pm, but lately he wanted to go earlier. Probably because of his age and the health issues. This walk was usually the longest one. We often took a route around the residential neighbourhood here. The area has lots of trees and walking paths in the forest. Very nice for a nature loving dog and his masters.
Then I continue my work in the side building usually, if not sitting on the main building sofa with the laptop. All of my teaching during and after the pandemic has been remote, also meetings. So I rarely went to the campus for meetings or events. Nuki of course liked this. If in the main building, he’d always get his scratching service, if I was there. Of course, the other humans in the building were also usable and utilized for his pleasure, but as the head of the pack (at least for him), I was the often the human to go to.
We also have a cable outside where I could attach him so he could enjoy the fresh air, observe the birds, chase the squirrels and stare at passing other doggies and humans. Lately he didn’t want to go there, probably because of freezing temperatures and his aching joints.
After work and the evening stroll, we would often watch the telly in the living room. On Fridays, we have a pizza evening with red wine. Nuki always got to eat the sides of my pizza. Since I am such a lousy master what comes to discipline, he was often quite vocal in making sure he got his share. To me it was often quite amusing, the way he made those sounds to make sure I knew what he wanted. In addition to pizza, potato chips were also his favourite although a rare treat.
Last week Nuki’s walking got increasingly and quickly more difficult. He had his joint medicine injection on Friday, earlier than planned. That did not help. On Friday evening, he could no longer get up. In the Saturday morning, January 13th 2024, I tried to get him to his morning pee, but we ended just sitting in the dark and cold, snow slowly covering us in the back yard. We lifted him in a large bag with a blanket and I took him to the vet, him sitting in the front seat while I scratched him and talked to him all the way, driving to the other side of the town.
Vet said there is nothing that can be done, considering his health and age, without extending his needless suffering. Which I kind of had accepted already for some time ago, that our shared journey would be coming to an end. He was paralyzed from waist down and could not pee. Nuki was put to sleep and then sent to his last journey to where ever, I don’t know. I sat by him to the very end, caressing him, accompanying him during his last moments. No more pain and suffering for Nuki.
Now there is no one to wake me up in the morning. No Nuki to share my breakfast. No friend to take me to walks in the morning, in the afternoon or in the evening. No one to make sure our borders are guarded against hairy enemies. No one to bark and greet incoming visitors. No one begging to lick the glass clear when I finish my sour milk. No one to share the biscuit with my afternoon tea. No one waiting for me to come home on the mat at the front door. No one to scratch and talk nonsense to. No one to share the fried yellow of the egg another human in the house does not want to eat. No sounds of pawns tapping on the wooden floor as he woke up from his sleep. When I see a glimpse of movement in the corner of my eye in my work room outside the window, it is not him there, watching over me.
I miss you, my friend.