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A thread of thoughts about Brody. I could probably keep this alive forever. https://twitter.com/MNorman87/status/1249387724609654785
Brody loved Christmas, more specifically ripping wrapping paper to shreds. Watching him jubilantly run around on Christmas morning to catch and destroy balls of paper we threw in his direction was my favourite part of Christmas. Better than presents.
My family & friends watched the Golden Goal game at my home. After Crosby scored there was an enormous eruption as everyone leapt out of their seats & started celebrating. Brody took this opportunity with everyone distracted to pile his face into a bowl of chips on our ottoman.
Brody's tail strength was the stuff of legends. Standing next to him while he was happy was an assault on your shins. When he heard you coming downstairs, his tail would thump so hard on the kitchen floor that it was like getting greeted with thunderous applause on your way down.
Every morning around the same time Dad would get up and go downstairs (to thunderous tail applause) & let Brody out. On mornings when Dad slept in a bit, Brody would come upstairs (a big no-no) and stealthily steal Dad's socks, then creep back down to his bed on the lower level..
.. Dad would eventually come downstairs and see Brody lying down on his bed, with his chin nestled into the socks, and his tail wagging harder and harder with each step Dad took down the stairs.
Brody hated fireworks (like most dogs). We tried our best to take him out of town on major holidays, but sometimes kids in the park behind our house would light them off. We'd come home and Brody would be nowhere to be found on the main floor. We'd find him in the tub upstairs.
I still contend that Brody could hear a Kraft Single package opening from a mile away. It didn't matter how asleep he was or where in the house he was: the second he heard that sound you would hear the frantic scraping of his nails on our flooring as he rushed to the kitchen.
I was the first one in my family to meet Brody. My friend and I excitedly rushed to the airport when his plane from Manitoba arrived, and got there before the rest of my family could. I was the first one to lay eyes on him...
... You would expect a young puppy who had just endured a 5 hour flight to be apprehensive or tentative, even a little scared, but not this little guy. From the first moment he was a ball of jubilant energy. Here's video of the first moments he spent in his new home:
Brody loved retrieving balls but not sharing them. He was a bit of a hoarder. It was always funny watching him eventually relinquish them: one ball, then two balls, then three balls would come tumbling out of his mouth.
Brody's favourite chew toy was empty water bottles. I think he liked the sound they made as he chomped down on them. He especially liked the spout, as that was a bit more of a challenge for him. By the time he was done, the bottle was reduced to the thickness of a sheet of paper.
Brody also loved stuffed animals with squeakers. He would carefully bite the toy until he found where the squeaker was, and then he would continually nudge that part of the toy with his nose to get it to squeak. It then became his mission to extract the squeaker from the toy...
... No toy ever stood a chance. He went through so many toys that we eventually looked into getting him something that would last longer. A guy at a pet store suggested one toy, saying it had been tested on tigers. Brody dismantled the thing in 2 hours.
Despite the fervour with which he ripped up wrapping paper, grocery bags, water bottles, squeaker toys, or soccer balls (he would methodically rip the tiles off), Brody had an uncanny ability to know what was off-limits. He never destroyed furniture or clothing. Such a good boy.
Brody LOVED the snow, which made him the perfect dog for St. John's weather. One of my favourite things was letting him out for the first time after a big snowfall and watching him become a snow dolphin, blasting his way through the fresh, untouched snow banks.
Brody was an expert shoe detective. As soon as you came in and took off your shoes in our side porch, he was on the case. Without fail, within minutes of you coming in the door, he was proudly bringing you shoes as if to say “You left these! I found them!”. So helpful, Brody.
I moved to Toronto about 5.5 years ago. My favourite thing about going home was getting to see Brody’s reaction when I came home. He would get so excited that he would whine & whimper as he whirled around my legs. No one else got that treatment. It always made me feel so special.
This was Brody’s best canine friend, Winston. Brody was about 8-9 years his senior, but matched Winston’s energy in spades. Their tugs of war were legendary, but Brody always won. Unsatisfied with victory, Brody would bring his toy back to Winston to goad him into one more round.
