Rest In Peace

It happened... he passed away.

This is Hogan. I remember distinctly like it was yesterday when my mother brought him home to us.. I remember coming home from school and seeing this little fur ball in our front yard and thinking to myself "How did he get in there?" Thats when my mom explained to me and Jake that we now had a new family member and his name was Hogan. He was fresh off a farm from San Luis Obispo where my mom got to see his mom give birth to him. She said he was the biggest puppy she had out of like 5 and that he was the odd man out because of it. Sort of like a runt, but only bigger then everyone else. He automatically won her heart and a couple weeks later she drove up there again and picked him up and brought him home. One of our first encounters has never left my memory. I was standing on our porch, that was about 5 steps off the ground and it had no railing so you could totally jump off and pretend you were a super hero. Well, Hogan was a little too excited that day and decided to leap at me (I don't know if he thought that I could catch him or what) but he basically pushed me off the porch and I ended up on the concrete crying hysterically. I remember saying "that dog with the different color eyes pushed me!" I always loved his eyes... One was brown and the other was half blue and half white. His fur was always fluffy and super curly and being that he was an Australian Shepherd, he didn't have a tail so when he "wagged his tail" when he was excited, he was essentially just shaking his butt really fast! This used to entertain me as a child. He was the nicest dog, never bit anyone but he was very protective of his territory. If he knew you weren't supposed to be there he'd let you know. He scared a lot of oppossums away in his day. He also had a TON of energy. Walking him was always interesting, it seemed like I was never going fast enough for him. And when I wasn't he'd jump on me as if to say "c'mon lets go!!" As he got older, his puppy mentality never left him, which is why I always referred to him as a very large puppy. Landon was one of the last people to get to see him alive and from what Landon tells me, Hogan was tired. I believe he had been ready. His body had slowed down a great deal this passed year and he wasn't as lively as he once was. He had become deaf and couldn't hear you when you came outside to see him, and he also had developed arthritis in his legs. He had become an old man. And now he is at peace. No longer in pain.... I haven't told Landon yet as I'm not sure how to explain it. I think I'll refer to a favorite child hood movie, "All Dogs Go To Heaven".

Hogan

1993-2010