I refuse to let the very last picture on this blog be one of Dreyfus on his way to his death. That's too depressing.

So I decided to make one more post. For today's pictures, I went through the archives to find the picture that that most fully captured the "Essence of Dreyfus." There were many fine candidates, but I went with this one because it still makes me laugh every time I see it. For those of you who never got the backstory: The picture was taken on November 28th, 2005, only a few weeks after I adopted Dreyfus. I was working on "STAY!" for a solid 30 minutes, carefully using the advice from Dog Training for Dummies. After Dreyfus did it a few times, I called it a night and went over to the pool for a swim. I left the book on my ottoman, not realizing that Dreyfus was the kind of dog who enjoyed a good snack on paper products. When I got back from my swim, I walked in the door and saw the picture above. I wanted to be mad at him, but I didn't have the heart... the comedic value of the whole situation was just too much to handle. This picture also made me realize that my 2 megapixel camera (Nikon Coolpix 950) was inadequate for good pictures, so I was inspired to buy a better camera.

Anyway... This picture makes me feel the way I want to feel when I think about Dreyfus, so I think it is an appropriate last picture.

To address serveral comments/questions I've received since Saturday:

• "But Dreyfus was doing fine, wasn't he?!" - No. We went for a shortened walk/fetch session on Monday, the 7th, but that was really the last time Dreyfus had any energy. He was tired on Tuesday, VERY tired by Thursday, and more or less a zombie by Saturday. It was his time.
• "Is there anything we can do?" - As I mentioned in my last note, give your pets (if you are lucky enough to have any) some special attention for me and Dreyfus. If you want to make a donation somewhere, there are plenty of good options: Best Friend Pet Adoption, who helped me get together with Dreyfus, and Jon Laman's Team in Training effort (Lymphoma and Lukemia are the same in dogs as they are in humans) are two that I've supported in the past.
• "I know you are in pain..." - Well, I do miss my buddy. But I'm actually doing quite well. I did most of my grieving when he first got sick, because I knew that Lymphoma doesn't offer a "happily ever after" outcome. The conflict I've felt over the past few months has been because his situation was unclear to me. I didn't want to hold on just for the sake of holding on. At the very end, his situation was clear, so it wasn't as painful for me as I imagined.
• "Are you going to get another dog?" - Of course I will! Duh!
• "...when?" When I'm ready. When I can look at another dog and not compare them to Dreyfus. When I know I can balance the time commitments better than I did with Dreyfus. If I had to guess, I would guess that I'll be ready before 2008, but you can't put a timeline on this kind of thing.
• "...will you do another photoblog?" Of course I will! Duh! I loved doing this photoblog. And I won't wait for a year to start the next one. I'll also try to set it up so folks can make comments on it, which was something I never got around to setting up on this blog.

I can't think of anything else to say, Thanks again to everyone who was a part of Dreyfus' life, even if only via this blog.