Honoring My Gracie Girl

My sweet Gracie passed away unexpectedly yesterday (on my sister’s birthday…) She was a 16 year old Portuguese Water Dog and the dog that I grew up with. I’ve had Gracie since I was 9 years old, and I wanted to make sure that I remembered all the wonderful things about her. She was a dog with a huge personality. Not the goofy doggo kind that you see on the internet – she was stubborn, smart and loving. I adored her and want to make sure to remember her properly. Below is a photo of the very first day we met!

When we first got Gracie, she was teeny tiny and the cutest thing. I remember the day we drove her home – she sat on my lap, and literally threw up on me. She hated the car from day one – always shaking and panting. Poor dog had to make the car ride all the way to Minnesota at one point. She was also, as young doggo, really, well, destructive. She chewed up countless American Girl doll accessories, Barbie legs, prescription glasses, my cousin Laura’s cell phone, and even (to my Dad’s horror…) dug up the sprinkler system. She had a ton of energy! Ultimately, my Mom ended up training her really well, and she got her energy out in other ways. In the fourth grade, I actually deemed her middle name to be “Mischief” and, ever since, in my mind her full name was always “Gracie Mischief Murdock.” It just stuck with me! One time, we even stood on the coffee table together jumping on and off of it from the couch, as I was eating ramen. It was ridiculous, but so fun. 

She was really well trained – she would sit when you snapped and give you her paw when you asked for it. Then she would give you the other paw when you said “Now, other paw!” I did it with her all the time over the last 16 years – it was a her trick and she always did it. It’s a simple thing to miss, but I already miss it a lot.

Gracie also loved snow. More than any other dog I have ever seen. She would literally frolic in it when it was practically up to her head. I remember her first snow – it was in the backyard of the house I grew up in during elementary school. We were laughing and watching through the window because she was literally running in circles while trying to catch the snow flakes with her mouth, chomping her teeth together at them. It was the cutest thing – it’s funny how much she loved winter literally her entire life. I wish she could’ve eaten snow one more time.

    

As much as she loved snow, she was afraid of water. Despite being a Portuguese Water Dog (and having webbed feet…none of the other kids ever believed me!), she did not want anything to do with it. My Dad put her in the pool as a puppy thinking it might be instinct (lol) and she started to sink. He saved her, obviously, but it scarred her for life. She always lounged by the pool though when we were in it. I even remember, when she was really tiny, her running through openings of the fence of the pool and my parents running to catch her on the other side.

Gracie was funny about being pet. She loved the attention, and wanted to be pet constantly. However, if you stopped, she would paw you endlessly. I would stop on purpose just because it was so funny how many times she would continue to paw you until you started petting her again. But, she didn’t want to be pet when she was hungry. She would sit under you as you were eating and try to beg (when my Mom wasn’t around…she wouldn’t let her beg…) and when you would try to pet her, instead of feed her, she would actually duck her head. Because, well, that wasn’t what Gracie wanted – and she always knew what she wanted!

Speaking of stubborn: Gracie always wanted to be outside longer than we did. After (long) walks, she would dig her feet right into the ground to not go inside and then, I kid you not, stomp her paws. Has anyone else seen a dog do this all the time? She would also walk in the opposite direction of the door to try to make it longer, or pull her neck in the other direction. She would lay outside all day, whether it was sunny, rainy or snowy. She loved it. Sometimes it drove me insane when I wanted to go inside on cold days after walks, or when she would tug in all these directions, but I am happy for the times I did stay longer with her. She would honestly just lay in the driveway or in the mulch watching the world go by for hours. But, she never barked. Even if dogs walked by – maybe she would lift her head or ears a bit, but she really just wanted to watch. UNLESS there was a squirrel. When Gracie was younger, all you had to do was say really quickly “Wheresthesquirrel?!” and she would spaz about to find one. Never catch one – just chase. But she hated cats – cats were the worst. 

I have a really specific memory from 5th grade. I was crying about something (who knows? Probably about moving…!) in the hallway of my house. She walked right over to me and put her paw right on me knee, and I just hung out with her for a while. This was the loving part of Gracie – despite being super stubborn and always wanting her way, she really cared and you could always tell. She always wanted to be around us – when we would watch tv, or eat dinner, or go to bed, she was always with us. I remember she used to sleep towards the end of my bed, but I would end up sleeping diagonally. She loved my bed the most, because it was extra comfy.

She went through a phase where, when my Dad had her outside for a while and she wouldn’t want to come in, my Dad would bring out a red solo cup and she would drink water with ice out of that. (So spoiled!) She loved her water out of a red solo cup – with ice, obviously. She used to literally scratch the refrigerator door for someone to give her ice to eat – almost like a treat. I hope she’s eating lots of ice where she is – and snow, obviously.

It makes me sad that Gracie passed before Christmas this year, mainly because I feel like she loved Christmas morning with us. She loved the wrapping paper the most – we would unwrap and she would walk right through it all and lay right on top of literally the most inconvenient of places! We used to always give her bully sticks in a dog stocking when she was younger – she hasn’t really enjoyed them the last couple of years, but she used to devour them. Towards the end of her life, Gracie did funny things like try to lick the inside of the dishwasher. Kinda gross – we always had to rush to close it. But still funny!

Like most dogs, Gracie loved tennis balls when they would be found somewhere in our house. Bella particularly loves them, but even older Gracie would always have her interest peaked after seeing us play, and want to join in. I’m wondering how Bella will be after this, because she’s known Gracie her whole life. I loved when they used to nap together or sit on the brown leather chair together – they loved that.

I’m feeling incredibly sad about Gracie passing. She was the sweetest dog, a best friend, an important part of our family. The vet told my parents that she “chose” to go today. Which is, from a Gracie perspective, sort of a funny exit. Sam always joked that Gracie hated her (let’s be honest: my dog had an attitude!) and she literally chose to go on Sam’s big day. So, every year on Sam’s birthday, we will literally always remember Gracie. We all laughed about it at dinner last night, because it’s honestly such a Gracie thing to do. It’s like she was like: Now, they will literally remember every year on the day. The vet also said she was the oldest Portuguese Water Dog she’s ever seen, which made me feel like all the love we gave her really did give her the best life. My parents said that, when she passed, the vet said: “Now, you can run.” I know how much Gracie missed running, so I really hope that’s true.

The best part? A beautiful rainbow appeared over my house when my parents got home. We felt it was a sign from Gracie that she really had crossed the rainbow bridge, and that she was okay now.

I’m feeling incredibly sad. Losing a pet is harder than I imagined. I love you sweet Gracie girl, always! <3 <3 <3 <3 Until we meet again.