This is a tribute to my beloved dog Birkie who lived with me for two, short years.

He was a great puppy and I feel lucky that we found each other. Birkie was the first dog I ever had.

The heart that has truly loved never forgets.

- Thomas Moore

How We Met

I met Birkie in the HOPE Shelter in Ironwood, MI in February of 2000. He was the only puppy there in a concrete block kennel with howling dogs all around whenever someone came the room. I had a short list of little temperament tests that I found in a book on selecting the right puppy for me. He passed every test! Someone else had said they wanted him, but I put $25 down and said I would be back in 3 days after my conference to adopt him. When I returned, my friends Sue and Stewart said "Your dog is on the front page of the paper!" The shelter had taken him and his brother to visit the residents in the nursing home and someone had snapped a picture of him on his hind legs reaching up to be petted by a woman in a wheelchair. I knew then that he was a sweet, kind puppy and that he was the right one for me.

He got his name because I found him on the weekend of the Birkebiner Ski Race and I had been hearing Eric Schubring narrate the race on WOJB and using the nickname "Birkie". Sounded like a good name for dog to me.

When he was a puppy, Vicki & Mike visited and puppysat for me one afternoon. He was pretty entertaining when he trotted into the living room with his puppy-training book in his mouth. He did chew a few things as a pup, but nothing serious. I am sentimental now about my ski boot that he chewed the whole collar off one day when he was anxious and I was gone. Sometimes I would come home and he would have a sorrel boot, a clog, wool socks and a piece of underwear up in the bed keeping him company as he waited for me to come home.

I loved his unique appearance. We would often get stopped on the streets on Bayfield by people asking what breed he was, or remarking on his pretty black and tan markings and his distinctive headlights above his eyes.

Wherever I went, he went. We were true companions.

Birkie went to work with me, both to the Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve job and to the Bayfield Regional Conservancy office. One time when we were riding the ferry to work. He jumped on a tour bus of elderly folks. He went up and down the aisle getting treats and delighting all the tourists. Another time he hopped on a school bus that was empty except for a little boy with limited movement in a wheel chair. Birkie put his paws in the boy's lap and gently licked his hands and then his face until he smiled. He helped people express love.

He would go hiking, skiing, canoeing and try just about anything with me. Here he and a bunch of other dogs came along to a Bay Area Active Sports Alliance on the Brownstone Trail. At the end, the dogs went swimming in Lake Superior. Here is Nala, Birkie and Jackson swimming at Port Superior.

Birkie was not a natural swimmer. The first summer I was on Teal Lake with Gene and Ruth Goellner in their rowboat. Birkie was on shore and so anxious about me leaving he swam out into the lake and I had to haul him into the boat. That was only the 2nd time he had ever swum. Another time Mary Rehwald and I were at Jack and Mary Witchita's place on Marengo Lake. Mary W and I went out in a canoe out of site. Birkie took off swimming after us, but we were oblivious to him. He swam way to the middle of the lake and couldn't catch us. Meanwhile Mary R was watching this on-shore. He finally got tired and swam to shore and joined a lawn party (they were probably cooking steaks). Mary drove all around the lake and finally found him and brought him back.

He had a huge heart and couldn't bear to be parted from me, and I felt the same about him.

He was most happy when he was running free. He would trot everywhere, rarely walked. One of his favorite places was the Sioux River Beach. We would go a mile down and a mile back. He would run flat out with his ears flapping and a big grin on his face. At home, when I came out the door, if he saw/heard keys he would wait by the garage door, or if the car was open would sit inside for hours so he wouldn't be left behind. Or he would sit over by the wood pile and wait for me to say "let's go" which was our ritual for starting our favorite hike or ski up the old RR grades to the ridge behind the house.

Birkie went everywhere. he had many special friends:

• Andy Brown- who let him lick her face and gave him treats everyday after work in Bayfield. Her dog Georgia Brown and Birkie were best friends and spent many afternoons playing in the office together. She gave him, and all the dogs in our corner of Bayfield, very hip, fingerwoven dog collars from Mexico. Andy made the Birkie + Georgia waterbowl customized with hearts and dog bones all over it.
• Carl Savitsy and Ann Riggs - who took care of Birkie at their home when I was gone. he loved their home, family, and Nora their chocolate lab. He was lucky to have such a wonderful home away from home. It was there he learned to get along with horses. It was there he chased and sometime killed squirrels. One time when Ann found him with a squirrel but was too late. The dead squirrel in its death grip had latched onto Birkie's lip and wouldn't let go, so he ran around with a squirrel dangling from his mouth.
• Mary Rehwald - who invited him to her Christmas party this year. He mingled with the guests, let the kids scratch his belly, snarfed up crumbs on the floor and then fell asleep under the grand piano with the music and conversation going on around him. Also, when Mary was in the hospital, Birkie held vigil in the car in the parking ramp. When we finally went home the next day, he licked her and comforted both of us as we journeyed home.
• Richard and Carol Avol - who welcomed well-behaved dogs into their wonderful bookstore. If he didn't come in with me, Richard would go out to my car and give Birkie his treats. One morning I met Richard and Carol in the IGA parking lot after they had picked strawberries. Somehow, Birkie squeezed out the car window while we were talking and ran into the store. He was trotting up and down the aisles as puzzled shoppers looked on. Richard said "Next time have Birkie bring me a dozen eggs!"
• Jeff Skoraczewski - at the La Pointe Post Office on Madeline Island would let Birkie come behind the counter to be petted and he always gave Birkie a lot of attention.

LESSONS

I learned a lot of lessons from Birkie. He was a gentle, sweet, freedom-loving spirit that inspired kindness. He taught me:

1. To say "I love you" out loud a lot and often. To use endearments like "sweetie, sweetheart, honeybuns". Because I could call him "honey" I then started calling my nieces, Neva and other children "honey".
2. He cracked my heart open to show me how much I could love. I knew that if I loved a dog as much as I did (I told him all the time that I loved him), then I knew I had plenty of love for a child. If I could take care of him, then I knew I could take care of a child.
3. Appreciate what you have and say it out loud. I often said to people," I'll never find another dog like him" or "He is perfect for me, quiet inside and active outside." From the first year, I appreciated his uniqueness and would say, "I don't know what I'll do when he is gone" even though I expected to have 15 more years with him. I always thought about how lucky I was to have him, and how this could never happen again to find such a perfect dog for me.
4. A "confident" dog needs limits to enjoy life. He had a mischievous streak when he would prance around and then high-tail it straight down the road, when I was calling him back. Think this might be helpful with children? :)
5. Live in the present. He was just as happy jumping in the car for an errand, going to the office, or going on a hike. The last week he was alive, we did all our favorite activities. I skied up the ridge while he ran along and explored, we walked the Sioux River Beach, we ski-jored down Smith Fire Lane and spent the weekend at Skip and Judy's playing music (me) and playing with Niiji (him). He got me outside more often and we were never happier than when we were exploring some beautiful place.

When Birkie died I grieved terribly. Thank God for friends like Skip and Judy and their family for getting me through the first awful day. Here is a copy of the email message I sent out to friends:

February 13, 2002

Hi everyone, I have some very sad news. This past weekend I was visiting friends who kept Birkie while I went on to a training conference Monday and Tuesday. Sometime Tuesday morning, their dog Niiji and my dog Birkie were shot and killed by someone here out on a logging road. It was a senseless, malicious killing at point blank range. I can't imagine who would kill two loving dogs like this. I am devastated and my heart is broken. When I got home this afternoon I took Birkie's body up to the ridge and put some tobacco down to honor this big-hearted dog who gave me such joy. Some friends who knew Birkie came over, and many have called. He made a lot of friends and was a sweet, well-loved dog. He went to work with me, ski-jored with me, canoed with me and slept in my bed. I am really missing him. Please send your thoughts my way and also for some understanding, or at least acceptance for what has happened. Thanks, Ruth

It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, pulling him wrapped in a quilt in the sled, up to the ridge to bury him. I was sobbing the whole time as I trudged through the snow. I cry now just writing about it. When we reached the top, I could not find any trees with branches that I could put him in (the ground was frozen). So I reached an open knoll at sunset as the gold light streamed through the birches and tall white pines. As I turned, I saw the lake reflecting a beautiful pink glow. I knew that was the spot to lay him down on the snow. I had a ceremony to bless his spirit and to ask the creator to take care of it. I think it is the saddest experience I have ever had. I wanted to have him up there because there is an eagle nest in a big old white pine up on the ridge, and I wanted to think his body would sustain eagles, ravens and other wildlife. On the way up I saw bobcat tracks. I wanted to think of him when I turned down the road home and looked west to the ridge. I wanted to think of him whenever I saw an eagle.

When I got near the bottom I saw a dark figure coming toward me. It was my dear friend Mary coming out to help me. She was still in her dressy work clothes and we both had tears streaming down our faces as we stood and hugged each other. Again, thank God for friends who came by that evening to remember him and to comfort me with hugs and food and flowers. Some of the email messages are here. I doubt any dog had such a tribute as Birkie with the cards, emails, flowers and special messages from people who knew him. He touched many people.

The most beautiful thing happened the day after I took Birkie's body up to the ridge. Here is an email I sent my friend Harriet. She was so thoughtful to send me a book on pet loss and a journal book to record memories in.

Harriet, Thank you for such a wonderful message. I wanted to tell you something happened today. I talked myself into skiing the trail Birkie and I usually did. I did not want to go on the trail because of the memories. But I headed up to the powerline. I was hoping for a sign about him. (I had taken him up to the ridge yesterday afternoon hoping to find a tree for a sky burial, a platform in the branches). When I got to the top of the ridge I was disappointed that nothing happened. I went to the overlook Birkie and I always stopped at to look down on Thompson Creek. I turned around to head back along the powerline and down the hill and saw an eagle glide out of a tree very near to where Birkie's body was. That was my greatest hope, that his energy in that body would be used by eagles, ravens and all the other wild things. So the eagle told me it was all right. (I was wondering if it was OK to leave his body out on the snow.) But now I know it will be honored and eaten by the others. When I got him up there last night, the sun was just setting and the snow on the lake was pink. He is in a beautiful place. Sometime in the spring I will go and look for him. But I will always see him in the eagles that fly overhead. - Ruth

An hour later, I got this card in the mail from my good friend Terrie Cooper.

Some people say maybe Birkie died in order to make room for a child in my life, I don't know. I think he would have been a great family dog and a comfort to a new child in a foreign land. But he is gone, and the most I can do is to keep the memories and seek the lessons that he taught me.

Here is a photo of Birkie and me taken in November on my dear friend Bill Wheeler's camera. Little did we know that that roll of film would be the last photos of Bill before he passed on, and the last photos of Birkie. I hope their spirits have found each other.

Birkie - my constant companion, thank you.

PS "Birkie" means birch in Norwegian. This spring I plan on planting a birch tree outside the kitchen window in memory of Birkie.