Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate our daughter would leave California and move to Austin TX. She not only relocated permanently, but later forged the path for others to follow!

What does this have to do with a dog’s tail? Everything! Our parting gift to her was the puppy of her choice – a perfect specimen of man’s {in this case, girl’s} best friend to serve as her constant companion and protector. She chose the chunkiest, spunkiest, joy-filled, tail-wagging dog of the breeder’s litter and she named him Duke – later to be affectionately known as the Duke of Austin.

Grand Dogs are all special in their own way and because our kids love their animals and we’re great dog-lovers ourselves, we cherish and enjoy them all as part of the family. Grand Dogs are sort of like having grandchildren – you get to play with them, spoil them and enjoy them – with no 24/7 responsibility. It’s the best of all worlds.

We were lucky enough to spend lots of time with Grand Dog Duke so we got well acquainted with his gentle disposition, his likes and his dislikes. Duke was a real chow hound – he loved not only his own food, but human food – when he could sneak it! Chocolate was one of his favorite delicacies.

We were grand-dog-sitting one night and had to leave him to go to the theatre with friends who were visiting for the weekend. We put him in his giant kennel in our house and secured his door – we thought! But you have to understand, the idea of chocolate is alluring and irresistible – any chocolate-lover knows that!

Upon our return, Dukie greeted us at the front door with the biggest chocolate-eating grin you ever saw. He had just scoffed down the special dark chocolate basket, filled with very expensive chocolates – a gourmet gift from our visiting friends.

Like most of the Tripps, Duke was a Shaklee lover. He enjoyed the health benefits of the supplements from an early age – Alfalfa, Calcium and Joint Health Complex. His loving mistress spared no expense to keep Duke in tip-top shape. We think a healthy diet, his supplements and a home filled with love probably helped Duke to live the long life he enjoyed….it certainly didn’t hurt! But Duke had a mind of his own and I guess he figured he wasn’t getting a wide enough variety of the Shaklee stuff.

Whenever I visited Chandra, I brought my own supply of Energy Bars and also protein powder in baggies. Duke discovered a taste for the protein and more than once, he helped himself – he couldn’t wait to get it mixed up – ate the whole lot, plastic baggies and all! I learnt to hide my supplies in my zipped-up suitcase.

Funny thing is the desire for an Energy Bar can be overwhelming for a health-nut dog! On one occasion, he got his nose into a small space of open zipper, unzipped the case and extracted the Energy Bars with never a tell-tale disturbance in the case. Only a few pieces of discarded foil wrapper convicted him! Oh yes – and the all-night diarrhea that got Grandma in as much trouble as Dukie.

Yikes! There’s nothing quite like being woken up from a deep sleep with the sound of the carpet shampooer right next to your ear and the words “Mom! Don’t you smell that?”

Duke always smiled, not only with his eyes and mouth, but with his ever-wagging tail. It never stopped wagging – he was the happiest dog ever. This tail was long! I mean REALLY long! Duke’s tail could be so happily wagging and so constant that sometimes I wondered if it was the tail that wagged Duke. He could clear a coffee table in one swipe! He could whack you so hard you wondered what hit you!

One time he whacked his happy tail so hard he broke the tip, but Duke was not a complainer. He just kept on wagging! Problem was the tail had to be surgically shortened. So what? The tail was too long anyway and besides, it didn’t change him at all. Duke was not short on happiness and the tail just kept wagging as usual. The smiles kept on coming.

If I were destined to be a dog, I would want to be Duke. Duke was a happy-go-lucky dog. He was so lucky – he received so much love and care and even got to go to work with Chandra for years. She created a great life for the Duke of Austin. He was such a happy and contented dog – the kind I’d want to be. You’ve heard the saying “Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are” – Chandra was that person to Duke, and it was evident in Duke’s non-stop-wagging-smiling tail.

I so miss the Grand Dog’s tail!

Chandra made this beautiful video entitled “Duke’s Farewell Message”