August 13, 2018 we said goodbye to our Evil Rat Dog, Bandit. He succumbed to congestive heart failure at the age of 13.
Bandit's philosophy of life was a very simple one, he was just happy to be here. No matter what, he would always wag his tail to let you know he was a happy dog.
Bandit began life in a puppy farm, he was a pretty boy and was destined to be a stud. But that was not his nature so the owners of the farm scheduled him to be put down, we took him in.
I brought him home in his carrier and when I reached in to pull him out he bit me. That's we I gave him the name Evil Rat Dog. He was afraid. Barbara took over and over several days coaxed him out. This is how we learned that he was a timid dog. It took many years for us to help him get his self confidence built up, but eventually he became our fierce little guard dog. No stranger was ever let in the house unless Bandit first let them know that he was watching them.
Bandit didn't know how to play. He would watch us play with Opie and Mocha and want to participate but never really understood. He was about 8 when he jumped down off the couch during a play time and charged up to me, so I would play very gently with him. It only lasted seconds, but he tried.
He loved his older sister Mocha, when she passed he was pretty heartbroken. He would follow her on all of the adventures. It's hard to believe that this little dog could hike ten miles in a day over rough terrain.
He always participated in every activity that we would do.
He was just happy to be here.
No matter what crazy adventure we went on.
He was always on guard.
He would put up with about anything except getting his nails trimmed. The vet put a little red tag on his chart to let the techs know that when it came time for a nail trim you had to be extra careful, or suffer the consequences. He pretty much got over the biting thing, but he would let me know that he was concerned about something because he would grab my finger in his mouth and chomp down, not real hard, just enough to let me know he wasn't sure about whatever was going on.
Bandit lived an adventurous life and was loved. He will be missed. He was our good natured little boogie bear.
