About Cookie

What comes to mind when you hear the word cookie? Images of gooey chocolate chip goodness, hot out of the oven, ready to be dunked in a tall glass of milk? Or perhaps something requiring no time in the kitchen, bought at the supermarket? (Don't worry—no judgment here.)

For me, whenever I hear the word cookie I always think of my dog. Cookie was a pointer/labrador mix. And she stole our hearts.

What was so special about Cookie? I suppose for all dog owners (or, as I prefer to call them, dog parents), their dog is something special.  But as this blog post is about Cookie, I’ll tell you what made her so special to us.  To start with, Cookie had the ability to change my mood in an instant.  When she was a puppy, coming home after a day’s work, I would look forward to slobbery kisses and cuddles.  I could have had the worst day ever, but Cookie instantly put a smile on my face.  Except when she got into my closet and chewed through a leather bag, or a pair of sneakers.  One time she chewed the exact page of a book I had been reading, though the book was closed, and I hadn’t placed a bookmark in it.  On those occasions I couldn’t help but wonder why on earth we decided to adopt a dog in the first place. 

Thankfully she grew out of that chewing phase.  She moved on to the jump-on-you-because-I-love-you-so-much phase.  That phase lasted almost her entire life.  Cookie loved people.  It was a rare thing for Cookie to bark at a person.  Her way of showing her affection was to jump and slap her two front paws directly on your chest, in the hopes of reaching your face to lick it.  All our efforts to break her of that habit yielded very little. Dad gave her the nickname “Cookiedown”, as she was given the command “Cookie—get down”, or “Cookie—down!!” every time she jumped on people.  Whenever he came to visit, as she welcomed him with her signature greeting, you would hear him laugh and say, “Hello Cookiedown” about 5,000 times until she got it out of her system.  Dad didn’t mind all the commotion.  I think he was just as excited to see her as she was to see him. 

Cookie did things that to this day I can’t explain.  Like the time we went apple picking, and upon arrival at our destination, we pulled over to the side of the road to await some friends who were a few minutes behind us.  We got out of the car to stretch our legs, closing the doors with Cookie still inside, windows opened enough to let the cool October air in.  Somehow, she managed to get out of the car.  Next thing we knew, she was standing beside us, wagging her tail.

Or the time a friend stayed over for the weekend.  He left his weekend bag in the spare room, with the door closed.  We came home to find the door to the spare room wide open, the zipper to our friend’s bag opened, and his belt on the floor, chewed up.  Don’t worry; we gave our friend a new belt.

I could go on and on about Cookie.  But I won’t.  Suffice it to say she left an indelible mark in our hearts.  Though she is no longer with us, Cookie continues to put a smile on our faces and is an inspiration for our art.  She was a blessing we will never forget.