Dearest Newman: A Tribute

 It is with great sadness that we announce the "supposed" passing of our beloved dog, Newman.  Hello Newman Weinreb (thanks Seinfeld) was born on approximately May 1, 1998 (at least that's when we choose to celebrate her birthday) and disappeared on Monday, January 15, 2013.  Newman was saved from the Humane Society of SLC, Utah and we were delighted to have this sweet girl become part of our family.

Newman is some sort of Basenji mix....just never figured out what that other mix was.  Newman loved to be held as a puppy, loved to snuggle and play. 

The Early Years

Story #1:  

While living in Utah in our little Cottonwood Street home, I was doing dishes and started to hear some loud squawking.  I looked out the window into the back yard and saw multiple magpie birds (I HATE them!) dive-bombing Newman.  Well, she wasn't going to take that kind of abuse so what did she do?  She jumped and caught one of those birds right out of the air!  I screamed and ran to the back yard to get her to let go of the bird.  Let's just say that those birds didn't bother Newman again!

Story #2:

One evening Todd and I were going to the temple and Newman was left outside in the back yard.  What we failed to do was bring in Todd's turtle, Mr. Peabody, who was also in the back yard in his little fenced pen.  Let's just say when we got back there was a horrifying scene in the back yard.  I thought Todd was going to kill Newman but in the end, it was our fault for leaving a tasty treat so readily available to Newman.

Newman joined us in our move to Georgia and adjusted very well.  I think she may have had one accident while training on her electric fence.   Living here brought Newman great adventures:  chasing rabbits (who soon figured out the line that Newman couldn't cross thanks to her fence.  You would see those rabbits just sit right across the line and taunt her), racing around the yard, sliding down the slide, barking at nocturnal creatures and sparring with the neighbors dogs.

Checking out the rare snow fall

Halloween

A favorite spot!

 Celebrating her birthday with wet dog food

Newman is posing just like the one in the painting that Abby found in Jackson Hole.  The dog looks exactly like Newman!

Sisters

Story #3:  

Newman was, at times, our protector.  She mostly like to protect us from the evil Brown Man (UPS drivers) but one day I got a call from my friend who called to tell me that Newman had been fighting a coyote in our driveway.  What??!!  I raced out there and she obviously won the fight because the coyote was no where to be seen.

Thanks Newman!

This is the last day with our dear friends, Theo & Lewis Taylor who moved back to England.  They loved Newman just as much as we did & she helped Lewis get over his fear of dogs.

 Staying warm seems to be her favorite activity!

Playing in the snow

Our British neighbors thought it was funny to dress Newman up in their soccer team's jersey during the World Cup.

 Celebrating New Year's with her peas and greens

 Tuesday, January 15th, was a rainy day.  I had been in and out all day so when things finally calmed down around 10pm I asked Todd if he had seen or fed Newman.  He said, "Which one?"  I said, "Both?"  The answer was neither.  We got in the car and drove the neighborhood for an hour but had no luck.  I went to bed crying.  I knew the next couple of days were going to be rainy and I was sad & nervous for Newman.

On Wednesday, I dropped Abby off at the bus stop then went on a drive through the neighborhood again, still no luck.  I came home and got a few things done then I got a call from my friend who offered to go look again.  We drove around again and even went out of the neighborhood.  No luck.  We then drove up to the animal shelter, gave them Newman's info and my contact phone number and hoped for the best.

We finally told the kids that Newman was missing and we made another search.  I had hoped that since it was garbage day, she'd be out trying to get something to eat.  I gave a flyer to the garbage man in hopes they could keep an eye out for her.  I emailed the flyer to local vet offices, the animal shelter, the Humane Society the proceeded to go hang them up and hand them out.

I posted her photo on Facebook, I emailed our HOA and a mass email went out to all the residents.  I pretty much did everything I could possibly do to find her.

No luck.

After 2 weeks, we decided it was time to tell the kids that Newman would not be coming home.  We told them that sometimes, animals will wander off to go die.  As sad as it was, I'm grateful that the kids didn't have to see her decline, get sick and watch her die or be put to sleep.  Our hope is that she laid down, fell asleep and went to heaven.

We decided to write down our favorite memories of Newman and we shared them with each other.  Our good friend in Utah, Kameron, is making a little box for everything to be stored in: memories, a truffle, a tag and a photo album.  

Newman was our first born, a big sister, our protector and truly, the best dog ever.  We will miss her greatly.

Goodbye Newman...we love you!

Hello, Newman

Wednesday, March 21st started out as a typical day.  I got the kids up and ready for school then headed out to take Abby to the bus.  Abby called to Newman to see if she wanted to ride to the bus stop but I told her no since I was going running afterward.

I came home after running and got showered.  The appliance repair guy was scheduled to come around 9am so I got ready and waited.  As I was waiting, I looked around a bit and didn't see Newman.  She spends about 23 hours/day lying in the living room and when I didn't see her, I thought it was a bit strange.  I called her name, looked outside, checked all the rooms.  Hmmm...this is so unlike her.  I couldn't really leave since the repair man was coming.

After the guy left, I called my neighbor to see if she had seen her.  No luck.  I drove around a bit and didn't see her.  So strange.  I was getting a bit nervous.  There wasn't much I could do since I was then off to pick up kids.  I first picked up Sam then had to pick up Abby.  They both wanted to play at the park afterward and I was getting anxious.  We finally got home around 4:45pm and I told the kids that Newman was missing and that we needed to go look for her.  Abby began sobbing.

I hurried and emailed our Homeowner's Association a photo and details of Newman to have her send out to all the Chapel Hill residents.  We drove around some more with no luck.  Todd came home and he and Sam drove around a different neighborhood.  I started making dinner and got a call from a man saying he thought he saw our dog at the opposite end of our big subdivision.  I'd guess approximately a little over a mile away.  What?  At 6am.  What?

I called Todd to let him know to head over that way and continued to cook.  I then received another

phone call from a woman in the same general area that she's seen the dog running around most of the day.  Abby and I hopped in the car and drove up there.  As we drove, Abby called out Newman's name.  If we saw someone outside, we stopped to ask and several people had seen her but we had "just missed her."  One woman said she had given her some water.  We drove around for like an hour with no luck.  I was stopped by a couple on a golf cart and he was the man who first called.  They were out looking and offered to go check the golf course.  Another man also offered to go look.  We were just headed home since it was getting close to bed time and the same woman who called earlier called again saying the dog was in her neighbor's garbage.  We raced back up and there she was!!!  We got her in the van, cleaned up the garbage and drove home.

What a relief!  

We were so scared and not ready to lose her this way.  It appears that she had crossed her electric fence line without feeling a shock or hearing the warning beeps.  She's lost some weight so the collar wasn't as tight as it should be.  She must have left in the very early morning hours and once the sun came up, she was far from home.  Poor girl!

We are ever so grateful for strangers who were willing to pay attention to an email and to make that phone call.  We are so happy she is home, safe and sound and back to her favorite spot on the rug.

Newman is more than a pet...she is our first born, a big sister and the best dog any family could have.  We're so happy she is still with us.