I am Bert (03-198) and I was rescued by Ragom when I was a puppy 12 years ago. I’m feeling old now because I have large masses attached to my stomach, pancreas, and kidney that are not amenable to surgery. Given how far they have spread, they’re almost certainly cancerous. But I don’t want to focus on that because I’ve had a wonderful life. I know that I was rescued with my brother Ernie (03-199). I don’t really remember Ernie, but my family often tells people that I’m Bert and he has a brother Ernie. They think it’s cute, but I don’t really understand the “Bert and Ernie” joke.

I was adopted by a family with three children. They are mostly grown now, but we really enjoyed growing up with each other. I’m sure I taught them important lessons about responsibility and caring, but mostly we’ve had fun just being together, keeping each other company, and playing. I’ve lived in the same house in Edina the entire time, and it has a wonderful backyard. When I was younger, we played soccer or football together. I was never very good on offense, but boy was I an awesome defender. I loved it when we rolled around on the ground wrestling for a fumble, and it was so much fun when I would get away with the ball and they’d chase me around the yard. I had some great moves and I was very hard to catch. They would also play fetch with me, but I taught them well so they would have to give me a treat each time.

People in Minnesota complain about winter a lot, but I love it. Sometimes I just lie in the snow with the cool snow under me and the warm sun on top of me.  When I was younger, it was particularly fun bounding through the snow chasing a Frisbee, or digging in a snow pile. I even enjoyed chasing pieces of ice across the skating rink in the park.

When I was first adopted, my people siblings walked to school so I really enjoyed walking back and forth with them every day. At the end of the school day, many kids would rush out of school and pet me. Boy, I loved that attention and I guess it really taught me to be patient with children. In fact, I get along well with everyone. OK, everyone except a labradoodle named Teddy. Maybe it’s my fault. We were playing in his backyard and I took one of his bones. I thought they were there to share, but he got really mad. That was many years ago, but every time we see each other on walks we still really bark at each other. Now my people siblings are much older, but until the last couple of days I’ve really enjoyed going on one or more walks a day. For the last five years I’ve had the pleasure of walking a neighbor boy to school once a week with my people Mom and the boy’s mother. It’s fun to go by the school--I remember the one time I got to go inside the school, and the gym teacher still remembers me!

When I was rescued as a puppy, I had a long scary ride from Missouri. Maybe that’s the reason I don’t enjoy car rides. So I haven’t taken any other long trips, but I enjoy mostly sticking around the neighborhood plus occasional short trips to Fort Snelling, soccer games, or other places. When my family goes on longer trips, I am excited to instead stay with my golden-doodle friend Jeni who lives across the street and loves to play.  

When I was a puppy, my people Mom took me to a puppy class and my people Dad took me to an agility class. I even earned a ribbon at an agility trial for successfully completing a tunnels course. Sometimes they set-up some obstacles in the backyard, but I preferred to run freestyle.

I really like that my family gave me a big crate that is my own space. I can retreat there when things are noisy or when I am tired. But I have the run of the house which is great, too. I like to sleep in all different places. My family probably still hasn’t figured out the rhyme or reason of where I decide to sleep at different times during the night.

Well, I guess I didn’t have the run of the house last Christmas. I love presents. I mean, I LOVE presents. At Christmas or whenever anyone has a birthday, I’m right there helping everyone open their presents. I really like it when my family re-uses the wrapping paper to hastily hide one of my toys or a treat inside and I get to run around with it and tear it open. I love getting stuffed animals as a present. Then the first thing I do is rip the ears off. I enjoy making it squeak, run around with it for a little while, and then get down to business pulling the stuffing out. Sometimes my family patches the pieces of different toys together in crazy ways. That’s funny. Even when the presents are wrapped I can usually tell which ones are mine. But this past Christmas I got impatient and opened a few presents that weren’t mine, and it wasn’t even Christmas yet. So then some gates were put up and I could only see the presents from far away until Christmas came.

Now I’m just resting a lot more and enjoying all the petting that I’m getting. Thank you Ragom for rescuing me. I’ve created wonderful memories for my family, and I’ve been loved as part of the family every day for the past 12 years.

Fondly,

Bert

2003	2005
2005	2008
2010	2010
2011	2011
2014	2014
2014