Elsie Dog

We said goodbye to our beloved Elsie on January 24, 2014. Elsie was our pride and joy and we owe an amazing 2013 to her. Luckily we were able to capture memories with many photos we took of her. Below are some of my favorites.

Elsie's Story:

Elsie was born in Hong Kong in April of 2007. She and her siblings were reportedly found in a dumpster and turned over to a rescue organization there.

Baby Elsie was the poster puppy for her litter's adoption! Then along came Ben & Jean, Americans who were living and working in Hong Kong. They adopted Elsie as a pal to their other Hong Kong rescue pup, Humphrey. Jean later said that they chose Elsie because she was the sweetest of the bunch. And the ears. Those adorably huge ears. 

Elsie and Humphrey were the best of pals-they loved running all over the island together and digging through trash at the local dump. While in HK, Elsie welcomed a brother, Johnstone, to the family and developed a fondness for his dirty diapers. Later Ben and Jean moved the family back to the states and they settled in the East Bay.

Sadly, Ben and Jean faced a crisis that required them to find Elsie a new home. Luckily our friends, Jake & Rachel, were able to assist and provide a foster home to Elsie. While Jake & Rachel traveled to Thailand for their honeymoon. GK and I agreed to sit for Elsie for those 3 weeks. 

Here she is on December 22, 2012-her first night with us in Concord and my parents' house. Elsie wasn't sure what to think and spent most of her time in the living room avoiding the guests at my parents' Christmas celebration. After a week into her stay with us we received an email from Rachel asking us about our interest in caring for Elsie full time. We told Rachel that we would think about it and give her an answer when the 3 weeks were up.

In preparation for Elsie coming to stay with us, we purchased her a raincoat at Old Navy. I think in some way I subconsciously knew that Elsie would become  permanent member of our home even before our dog-sitting commitment began. Pictured above-Elsie is wearing her raincoat during one of her many "poop loops" in our neighborhood. Of course once those 3 weeks were up we knew we wanted Elsie to become part of our home.

Our weekends quickly turned into Elsie outings. We'd play her favorite music ("Buy a Dog" by Luce and just about anything by Fun) while we drove to many of the great parks in the East Bay, changing the lyrics to include Elsie's name in the songs.

Pictured above and below in Crockett. This was a fabulous day-I chased Elsie around the tall green grass and once we were tired we went to the Warehouse for a beer, dogs are not allowed but since they could see that Elsie was well behaved they told us to just bring her inside.

This iconic photo of Elsie was eventually turned into a beautiful oil painting and presented to me on Valentine's  Day (which was also our 2nd year anniversary).

We quickly got in the habit of taking Elsie with us just about everywhere. Elsie was not really a huge fan of the corner laundromat but the manager is an incredibly nice guy and his dog, Sam, who is a local fixture there did his best to make friends with Elsie. Eventually Elsie started enjoying her trips to see Jonathan and Sam and would even lay down on the floor while I folded laundry.

Of course Elsie visited the 500 Club in SF to attend GK's Sunday karaoke show. Elsie was not impressed.

Here is Elsie in June of 2012 celebrating Rachel's birthday at Lake Merritt along with her friends Virginia and Sophie.

Elsie and GK quickly became best friends. Elsie adapted to GK's schedule which basically involved sleeping until 11am, going out for coffee, running a few errands in the troll, and taking an afternoon nap. Above-Elsie at the Oakland Cemetery (popular place for walking). GK even gave Elsie a nickname, "Osos," which basically came from saying Elsie really fast in a high-pitched tone. Eventually Osos morphed into-The Os.

Elsie even visited Treasure Island.

But she found the Doggie Diner heads on a wagon at TI troublesome.

I later found out that while I was at work GK & Elsie would often visit fast food restaurants, sharing a burger (her favorite was Burger King) and always having fries. The most Elsie ever got from me was a greenie that took her three weeks to eat.

Our best trips were when the 3 of us spent the day together. Here we are last year at Jack London Square.

We included Elsie on our trips out of town whenever we could. Here she is (above) in Monterey for GK's birthday last year wearing her hat made by G-Ro along with a pink hijab. 

One of our best trips though had to be to Mt. Lassen in September of 2013. Above at Lake Helen.

Taking a break from the heat with GK.

While Elsie has traveled extensively throughout Northern California, Point Isabel will always be one of her most favorite places.

It's also where she found herself in a fight with a Rhodesian ridgeback that resulted in 7 stitches to her shoulder. Apparently Elsie started the fight. According to GK they had run into Jean, Johnstone, & Humphrey and he believes that Elsie was being protective of them.

We did have some challenges with Elsie-like going on a hunger strike. After GK discovered that she had dumped her bowl of high-end vegetarian dog food, he responded by grabbing the keys and heading straight to Pet Food Express to get her a new bag of food.

Elsie also had skin issues that she struggled with her entire life. GK tried everything on Elsie from changing her diet to rubbing olive oil on her paws. Eventually I would cone her when the itching became extreme and then while I was at work GK would allow her to frolic sans cone.

But most days it was happy times. No matter how hard I tried, I was never able to teach Elsie to dance. But she did learn to lay down on command from watching youtube videos and GK taught her to climb up on my bookcase to retrieve treats.

And of course GK dressed up as Elsie on Halloween last year. Eventually Elsie would come to own a total of 12 different scarves-it was her signature accessory.

While Elsie's favorite room in the house was our front living room-she also liked to spend sunny days in the kitchen catching flies.

She became particularly fond of G-Ro who made her entire outfit (saddlebags, hat, and kerchief) that matched her car seat cover. G-Ro was also known to provide Elsie with chicken and turkey during the holidy gtherings. Eventually when we would arrive in Concord, we would let Elsie out of the car and she would run right up to their front door. Once she was allowed inside she would immediately head into the kitchen to greet my parents.

But Elsie never forgot where she came from. Here she is with her brother, Humphrey, at Friendsgiving last November hosted by Ben & Jean.

Elsie was a great source of support during my pregnancy. She was very patient and understanding when we brought Tala home from the hospital. Above at my baby shower last November wearing her carrot scarf.

Luckily GK was still able to spend some one on one time with Elsie so she didn't feel too left out. Pictured above this past January up in the Oakland hills.

In mid January of this year, Elsie quickly fell ill. We were shocked to learn that she had a tumor on her heart and the prognosis was extremely poor. Because we didn't want her to suffer, we arranged to put her to sleep after she said her goodbyes.

At first Elsie stayed overnight at the vet's office so that fluid could be drained from her belly. After GK got off work at 2:30am, he picked her up from the vet's office and slept downstairs with her on the couch, regularly waking to check on her to make sure she was comfortable.

Here she is with Jean and Ben who came over to spend the next evening with her. Of course Elsie welcomed them and was so happy for their comfort.

That last night we moved T downstairs so Elsie wouldn't have to sleep alone.

We believe that Elsie stayed around long enough to make sure that T was secure with us before saying goodbye.

Beautiful Elsie.

(Made for Elsie by our friend Audrey Delacruz)

We could not have asked for a better dog. Elsie was our first child-we think about and miss her every day. 

Elsie "Osos" Calub

April 2007-January 24, 2014

Survived by her family-Bonnie, Glenn, and Tala; Ben, Jean, Johnstone, & Isadora; brother Humphrey; and too many friends and four-legged pals to count.