Tribute to Elvis

Memories of the Great Butter-Bean:

When I first got Elvis, he was a handful. He loved to chew on everything, piss on everything, and play. That is what those days were made of. He used to wake me up in the mornings after a long night of working at the Midnight Rodeo by dropping a slobbery, chewed pig ear in my face and once he saw my eyes open, would immediately start chewing on my hands.

When we lived in Amarillo, we would always go to the park and play fetch. We even got enrolled in obedience training, which turned into attending the Amarillo Search and Rescue trainings. Elvis at a little over 6 months could find me hiding behind a wall, in a culvert, and even in a car trunk. He used to love playing “hide and seek”.

The Kong was his favorite toy, one time we bought several kongs and gave one to everyone. Once we all were outside, he started going crazy for one kong, then someone else would pull out their kong, and then another, Elvis didn’t know what order he was going to get all 6 or 7 kongs in, but he knew he would get them all. We even tied all the kongs to the fence, thinking he wouldn’t be able to get all of them, after a little while, we went outside only to find all of the kongs where missing from the fence except the ropes. Elvis had pulled every kong off its rope and only the rope was hanging from the fence.

It didn’t matter where you threw the kong, he would run after it. You could throw it in the water, mud, as far as you could, and he still would go after it and bring it back.
He was a good protector. I have heard from a few people that he liked to show his teeth if he wasn’t expecting anyone home during the day. One time when Mistie and I were living in Valley Ranch, I came home late and it was really dark in the apartment. I pushed the bedroom door open to enter the bedroom and Elvis started growling the serious kind of growl. I quickly spoke up to let him know it was me. I don’t think Mistie was ever afraid having Elvis in the house with her. I know he always watched over his family.

Elvis helped us meet our good friends Carmel and Kris Helsley down in Houston. Carmel and Kris have a black Labrador named Camden, which Elvis and Camden became good friends too. We all used to go to this huge park and throw the toys. There was a creek that we used to throw the kong into and have both Elvis and Camden run and play in the water.

When riding in any car, Elvis always liked sitting right next to me. In my pickup, Elvis would sit extremely close and just look out the windows. He was even known to get special treats as I would go through a drive through window. Typically, the girl taking orders would be like, does your dog like chicken nuggets? He would score so much.

When we brought Ellorah home from the hospital, we were a little afraid on how he would react. When Ellorah would start crying he would get all nervous, and bring his toy to her thinking it would calm her. He did play ball with Ellorah several times, being real gentle and allowing her to take the ball from his mouth and say “Mine”.

One time, in Houston Mistie and I took Elvis out to do his business. He was very particular about walking on the grass, and eventually did his business. I don’t remember exactly why, but I poked his poop with a big stick. Well, as curious as Elvis was he wanted to know what was on the end of the stick. I offered the end of the stick for Elvis to smell, which he did, and quickly made a noise from his mouth like someone would make when they shrug their shoulders in disgust, and let out a small exhale of breath like that was the most disgusting thing ever and why would you put that in my face to smell. I still laugh, when I think of that.

When I worked at the Midnight Rodeo, I would work sometimes during the day to make some extra money. The manager during the day was real dog friendly, and would let me bring Elvis up and let him run around the dance hall while I worked. I was working, and noticed that Elvis took a huge dump in the middle of the dance floor. I had to quickly clean it up before anyone else saw it. After that, I could honestly say I saw everything in that place.

Elvis was a great lifeguard. He did not like anyone jumping in the pool or running around the pool. If I would jump in the pool, he would immediately jump in after me. He loved playing fetch in the pool, having to jump in the water and swim to the ball.

I Houston, Elvis was known at the local Marble Slab Creamery, where many nights he would get to eat his own ice cream cone.

Elvis’s tail was known to clean off a many low tables, knock kids in the head, and hit any and everything. I would say that his tail gave him the energy to do everything else.

Elvis would place his nose in your face while you were sleeping and give a “bbrrr” noise to wake you up. There is nothing like waking up with a big cold wet nose in your face. If you hung your foot off the edge of the bed, Elvis would walk back and forth, just so that it would rub his back.
When you would rub his back, he had a tendency to wiggle and back up towards you so you would keep rubbing his back. Mistie made up a song and would sing it to him while he was wiggling around. The song went like this: “You’re a big fine puppy, why don’t you back that thing up, back that thing up”

The stories could go on and on, and I probably haven’t even told the best ones. Elvis was a great friend and huge part of the family. He would always greet you at the door, happy to see you, and would put a smile on your face when you felt down. He is a very special dog and he is truly missed.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of his wagging tail, and all the joy he has brought to me and my family.

Vaya Con Dios, my good friend.