Bodie The Wonder Dog, 2008-2021

The Captain of the Catican Guard passed away on Friday. In human years, he was roughly 80 years old. We're going to miss him very, very much. Wife kitteh, who is returning today from a trip to take care of a family member out of town, is devastated. The girls, Lily and Leah, are stunned and only now starting to return to normal.

He was adored by all and with good reason. He was a very good boy.

One of his earliest photos. I nicknamed him Bodius spasmodius because he was such a high-energy dog.

When he was little, he was quite the handful.

Living with Bodie the Wonder Dog is like living with a four-legged flood. He puts everything he can find into his mouth - socks, shoes, wood scraps, rocks, dirt, flowers, pens, pencils, broken glass, bits of pottery - absolutely everything. Consequently we have to keep everything of value well above his reach. It looks like we're preparing for a hurricane or a breach of local levees. Our countertops are covered with things off the floor and the tops of dressers have mounds of dirty clothes since he can reach into most hampers.

Last night, I was hanging up some curtains downstairs while Bodie was scampering about, devouring something or other. I was absent-mindedly throwing the cardboard curtain rod containers into what seemed to be a trash can on the floor. My wife said, "Don't put that in there. That's not a trashcan, that's Bodie's toy bin." I replied, "You're making a rather fine point there, don't you think?"

He paid attention to the lessons taught by our Maximum Leader and quickly learned Cat Protocol.

He was a patient instructor in his own right, teaching the girls how to be proper Catican Guards.

Fortunately, he was active right up until the end and other than the normal aches and pains that come with age, he didn't suffer.

He's going to be missed sorely. We loved the old man to the moon and back.