R.I.P. Sir Duke, Final Tribute – The Purchase

I am still amazed when I think about how Paul ended up owning Duke – Duke Rocky Duck according to his AKC registration papers. Paul and I were dating at the time and he was looking for a dog. I was not at all interested in dogs or shopping for dogs or him having a dog. But I was very interested in Paul so I tried to be interested in what he was interested in. Which is mainly dogs. One Thanksgiving he decided to show me his family ranch. I’m a city girl, not really interested in Ranches either. But where we were going there was a big craft and antique market. I put that $160 that I had scrimped and saved out of my single mom budget in my pocket, hoping to find some Christmas gifts.

When we arrived at the market I was so excited to see the booths with handmade quilts, jewelry, clothing and rows of other things. I couldn’t take it all in from the entrance. What I failed to notice was that there were also booths with dog breeders and their pups. Lots of Labrador retriever puppies. Which Paul was extremely interested in.

We didn’t do any Christmas gift shopping that day but we stopped by every dog breeder booth. I observed the process while Paul would look carefully at all the pups, talk to the owners, look at them again, maybe even pet one or two. I couldn’t help but enjoy the puppies of course, and began to listen to what Paul told the breeders he was looking for.

As soon as I saw the puppy who would become Duke I knew it. Immediately. Huge paws. Incredibly wide face with that classic ‘swamp lab’ broad nose and big head. Perfectly black. Perfectly put together. Huge paws. The owner had named him Grouch because he was bigger than all the other pups in the litter and even at 3 mos. old acted like he was in charge. We walked over to the puppies and I could tell Paul was taken with him. Smitten. And Grouch wasn’t even trying.

There was a woman with her 6 year old granddaughter who was also looking at Grouch. The girl really wanted the dog, but the breeder tried to encourage them to take another, smaller pup. They walked away to talk about it. Paul had been talking to the breeder and was about to walk away also. “That’s the one,” I said, pointing to Grouch, who wasn’t even looking our direction. “What do you mean?” Paul asked. “That’s the dog you want,” I said, not understanding my conviction but knowing I was right. “He is beautiful, and has the classic big head and look I want,” Paul replied. “His sire was an excellent bird hunter according to the owner. I’d take him but I didn’t bring enough cash – the price is $200.” He was staring at Grouch. “How much do you have with you?” I asked. Paul checked his wallet. “Dang, only $40. I forgot to stop by the ATM on the way out of town.”

I fingered the $160 in my pocket. Money that had taken me months to save and was earmarked for a totally different purpose. Money I couldn’t quickly replace. What was I thinking? I didn’t even want him to have a dog, much less buy him one. But oh, the things we do for love. “I’ve got $160 on me that I was going to use for Christmas shopping. You are welcome to it if you want to buy the dog.” “Really?” he asked. “You would do that for me?” “Apparently I would,” I said smiling. “But you’d better not hesitate because this offer is about to expire when I realize I’ve lost my mind.”

The perfect black lab pup came to the Ranch with us that afternoon. We took him to the pond and when Paul threw a stick into the water he immediately jumped in to retrieve it and bring it back. The instinct was beautiful to witness. One of God’s creatures doing exactly what he was intended to do. That was in November 2002. There are many fantastic hunting and other stories, but the bottom line is that Duke brought his owner much joy, great hunts, incredible stories to tell, lots of fun and deep love over the next 14 years. And I never missed that $160.