Obituaries

Oatmeal was the best dog we could ask for. We spent nearly a year wanting a new dog, agonizing over all the details of our adoption applications and choosing what we finally decided as the perfect breed - a German Shorthair Pointer. After finding a GSP rescue, they told us to wait patiently, and that they would find us the perfect dog for us. We trusted them, but had doubts, especially as it seemed to take a few months. After what seemed like eternity, they called us with the news that pups were available! They weren't purebred GSPs, but the rescue thought that they were a mix. We looked through the dogs and decided on Oatmeal (mostly me - I fell in love with her derpy face and inability to keep her tongue out of her mouth for a single photo).

We were so excited to have a chance to adopt this wonderful dog, and spent a few hours in Petsmart meticulously choosing collars, leashes, and the crate. When the day came, Lacy drove down to Denver to meet Oatmeal and loaded her in the car. As soon as she got home, we took her on a long walk so she could potty and get to know the neighborhood. She was full of surprises from day one and her heat cycle started within a few hours of getting to her new forever home. She immediately became our constant companion and wouldn't leave our side (sometimes literally refused to not press up against us).

In Fort Collins, she loved her backyard and would make a firm trail in the area around the firepit playing chase. She teamed up with Millie to tree the squirrels and actually caught one until I yelled at her to drop it! Her other favorite things to do in the yard were to lie in the sun, join me for naps, eat apples, and dig through the garden for carrots.

For her first birthday tested her genetics to find out what breed she was, and, in yet another surprise, she was 0% GSP! She was 56% blue heeler, 21.2% St. Bernard, 14.6% lab, and, fittingly, 8.3% Supermutt. Her drooly face and bushy tail were finally explained, as was her love of nipping us and going for long runs by our side.

She got to enjoy many hikes in Colorado and Wyoming, including summiting Horsetooth Rock no less than three times and achieving the summit of Medicine Bow Peak. She would find marmots and other critters before we would, and on nearly every hike she would someone find a deer bone to gnaw just off the trail.

Lacy loved to run with her, and she was the unofficial pacer for our Tuesday run group. When she got running, she would lock in and treat it like her job. I don't think she was ever happier than when Lacy pulled down the running harness and leash and asked if she wanted to go for a run.

When not running, hiking, or playing kick-fetch, she would join us at breweries and walks around town. She turned heads wherever she went and loved meeting new people. She never met someone she couldn't turn into a dog lover. Friends and family loved her as well, to the point where my dad would get back in bed after waking up just so Oatmeal could jump into bed and wake him up. She was a perfect partner in crime and loved to steal sticks and rile up our 5-year-old nephew.

Her name might as well have been Shadow. She would sit in the office with Lacy while she worked, and whenever Lacy left a room Oatmeal would follow. Her favorite place was wherever we all were together. If there was as little as an inch between us when sitting together, Oatmeal would close that gap.

Oatmeal saved her final surprise for her last day. We were out on a walk and she suddenly collapsed, likely due to an undiagnosed congenital heart condition. Her heart was simply too big and too full of love for us. She was the best dog, and we will miss her.

She will live on in our hearts, and in the Japanese Plum tree we planted in the front yard in her honor. The tree is traditionally seen as warding off evil spirits, and we hope that through this Oatmeal will continue to watch over us.