“You raise me up to more than I can be.”

She was a half-breed mix of German Shepherd and Collie, affectionately known as our “borderline Collie;” he was a pure bred Shiba Inu with a twenty-pound heart in a ten-pound body.  Until this week, the only thing they had in common was that both were part of the Perkinson family.  This week, Sasha and Roc both made the transition to what we all hope is a better place.

Sasha, the half-breed, and Roc, the little dog with a big dog attitude, left indelible paw prints on all of our hearts.  Though their passing makes this Father’s Day the most grief-ridden one I have ever experienced, our family is far better for having had them in our lives.

We don’t know Sasha’s origin.  She came into our home from a friend who had taken her as a rescue and was unable to keep her.  The vet said it appeared she had been kept caged early in her life because a number of her teeth were broken in what, he thought, were repeated attempts to chew her way out of the cage.

As with many animals and people who have been abused, Sasha craved attention and saw herself at the bottom of the pecking order.  Even with a total stranger, she would roll over on her back in a submissive posture exposing her soft underbelly in the hope she would be rewarded with a tummy rub.

Where Roc had a heart that was twice as big as the rest of his body, Sasha had a tongue that was twice as big as her mouth.  And she drooled, and drooled, and drooled.  But she had the most beautiful, huge brown eyes that immediately grabbed your heartstrings and only asked that you love her.  Any sane person could not help but respond in kind.

Roc came to us as a puppy to be my daughter’s friend and confidant.  And for two years, he served her faithfully in that role.  In the process, he also wormed his way into the depths of the rest our hearts.

When Mandee went to England for an extended stay, Roc ended up with my brother and his family, where he served faithfully for ten years as playmate to John, breakfast companion to Don, walking companion to Kathy and, until she passed, general nuisance to Suzie.  He ruled his backyard kingdom from the foxhole he dug under the shrubs and kept eternal vigilance against all intruders from squirrels to birds to neighboring dogs.

More than any pet I have ever known, Roc was, truly, an integral part of an extended family.  From the Perkinsons in Pennsylvania to the Perkinsons in Maryland to the Perkinsons in Richmond, VA, Roc was so much more than a dog; he was part of the glue that binds a family together.

Much has been written about the value and impact of family pets – how they help teach responsibility, how they help relieve stress and how they comfort us when we most need it.  But, like most dogs, the most valuable gift Sasha and Roc gave us was unconditional love.

Unlike cats, whose love usually comes with strings attached, dogs don’t care what we look like, how our breath smells or how we talk.  Sasha and Roc loved without condition.  In doing so, they made us better than we were, and having them in our hearts we increase our ability to love.

Farewell, dear friends.