I’ll Chew On Your Ear, You Chew On That Toy

First, I just wanted to thank everyone for their heartfelt condolences over the loss of our beloved Darla a few weeks ago. The kind and compassionate comments on the blog and on our Facebook page meant a lot to Alayne and me, and I hope you know how much we appreciated it.

We’ve found over the years that only two things really help with the grieving process — one is just the passage of time, and the other is having other dogs around to focus on. The two dogs in this post — three-legged Tanner and blind Millie — were part of my “three-minion pack” with Darla, and they have been a huge help for us in coping with Darla’s death. (Full disclosure: Tanner has split his minion-hood 50/50 between Alayne and me; Millie is 100% my minion.)

These two are always at the door to greet us, tails wagging and joyful faces looking up at us. In truth, Darla wasn’t always there at the door with them before — she thought it was more appropriate that I come inside and greet her, wherever she might be … on the recliner, on her bed upstairs, or in the kitchen waiting for food to miraculously fall off the counter. But these days, having Tanner and Millie still waiting at the door to offer their happy welcome has really helped lift our spirits. (In case you’re wondering, the other dogs remain sleeping and napping!)

It’s also wonderful to see them still wrestling and playing in the evenings together, and it makes us so happy to see them so happy.

As you can tell from these photos, in this session Tanner was all about Millie’s ears, busily though softly chewing away while Millie blissfully chews on a toy.

In this one he’s worked his way back to the base of her ear:

Here he’s doing a little outer-edge cleaning and licking:

For which — apparently — she rewards him with a kiss:

Unless that was an “enough already with that ear!” gesture.

Because soon he started on her other ear, Tanner being an “equal opportunity” ear chewer:

And notice that Millie seems to remain oblivious to all the ear business, still happily munching on the toy!