More than a dog

We're sad to report that the beloved Terry family pet, Montague (Monty), has passed away. The English Patience blog, as well as Adventures in the Midwest and the BBBBlog, would like to honor him at his passing by sharing a few stories. We hope these stories will be therapeutic for all of us who mourn his passing.

One of my favorite of Montague's many talents was his ability to retrieve food from any seemingly-unreachable place. There are many incidents of his eating whole pans of rolls, plates of pancakes and whatever else he could manage. But my favorite specific occurrence was when he managed to get a massive slab of pure, dense chocolate from the middle of the kitchen table, where it had been placed specifically because it would be unreachable for him. That Monty was able to consume such a large quantity of a substance that should have been lethal to him is one of the things that made him so special.

The above photo is from a family hike at Tent Rocks in New Mexico. What family outing would be complete without Monty? All 7 of us (Mom, Dad, Michael, Bob, Nick, MONTY and me) had a great time hiking that day. Monty did his best to make sure none of the group was separated because he liked us all to be together.

Now it's time for Jacob's memories...

How can anyone choose just one or two Monty moments? Once when I was grilling chicken breasts at the Terry's, Monty was very interested in my every move. His nose was never far from the grilling surface, so when a whole chicken breast slipped through the tongs, he had swallowed it before I even realized what happened. He swallowed it WHOLE and PIPING-HOT from the grill. Garth's lunch for the next day was gone.

We're glad Monty is no longer suffering, and we hope he's enjoying the peanut butter in heaven. :)