Mr Bear came stumbling out from under the house only to be blinded by the intense sunlight,then stumbled, tripped and ended up sitting in a large bowl of water that had been laid out for his fellow brothers and sisters. Immediately we fell in love. We had to have him and Mr bear became the symbol or flagship of our relationship. A young loving couple in need of a common love - other than each other, Mr Bear, a Newfoundland Labrador cross was the most astounding pet/friend that I ever knew. All black with a little white patch in the centre of his magnificent chest. By the time Bear was fully grown he could stand on his hind legs put his front paws on my shoulder and look me directly in the eye. I stood 6 3 so that was one big dog! Bear was the most gentle and loving friend or companion a soul could ever wish for. He went everywhere with us as much as he could. Proudly sitting in our red and cream convertible Beetle or later on in the tray of our black and yellow Beetle that that been modified into ute mini ute. Bear was always there. On the off chance we had to travel with us he had a babysitter that would stay in our house and care for him. Mr Bear had an enormous appetite and was not afraid to use it. I recall coming home one night with Amanda and finding he had contrived to open the fridge and devoured all his the curry we had made the night before, a whole cauliflower, several of containers of his home delivered food (enough for a few days at least) as well as just about everything else. He had also apparently locked himself in the toilet and chewed/clawed his way through the door. It looked like a gigantic mouse hole that even I could crawl through! Bear came with us to Sydney, drove to Adelaide when I gigged, being smuggled in and out of motels... no mean feat considering his size, and then later to Lismore in Victoria when rented out a quaint little house called Bottle Top Cottage. (So named because one of the previous owners many years ago decided he wanted to render the weather board so got everyone in town to collect their bottle tops which he nailed to the boards all over and around the house to make the render stick.) It was an idyllic time in our lives. We had a paddock on which we agisted two horses, fruit trees in the backyard and I also procured a lease on the old unused town hall building (for the princely sum of $10 a week) as an art studio for my partner and wife to be, Amanda. I had my 4 track to write and make demos and we would go for long drives to lakes, picnic and inflate a two man boat and tie it to Bears collar and let him tow us around as he happily swam after sticks or stones thrown just ahead of him. Sometimes Id just hang onto his tail and let him drag me around the lakes or dams... he was never more happy than when he was in the water. His webbed feet and bulk made him a mighty swimmer. I can picture him now towing my (at the time) little niece, Kylee Lucas around in the blow up boat. His head up out of the water and her laughing and giggling and happy as any child could be. One of the reasons Bear would go everywhere with us is that you could not tie or chain him. I remember him jumping through a closed window once because we thought wed leave him behind while we did a quick run up to the shops. He shattered the glass and frame nd other than a slight cut on one of his front legs was pretty much unscathed. He was strong loyal and intelligent. I was dismounting from a quarter horse we were agisting and slipped. My foot got caught in the stirrup and the horse got scared and panicked. I tried to to hold onto the reigns and keep its head down but the they were torn from my grip, along with three finger pads. The horse then proceeded to try and trample me. I was flat on my back, on foot caught in the stirrup trying to dodge between the hooves and thought I was going to be killed. On the other side of the fence Bear was beside himself. I caught a glimpse of him coiling down into a crouch and then with a mighty spring he cleared the fence and charged the horse throwing his considerable weight (around 200 pounds) against the upper flank of the horse, knocking it over and then laying across the neck growling ferociously and hold it down. The girth strap broke when the horse hit the deck and I was able to crawl to safety. Then Bear simple hopped off came over to me with his tail wagging and covered me with slobbering kisses. I still get rather misty-eyed thinking about it. He saved me and from that moment was my hero. Bear would sleep on our bed, eat what we ate and be as much a part of our lives as he could possibly be. As he got older and began to fail and suffer the weight of his age and build so did the relationship between my wife and I. It was a strange parallel. He was still with us when our daughter was born. There was no jealousy as so many people predicted. He would stand watch over her, our daughter and if he had lived would have cared for her and protected as much as he did us. sadly this was not the case. He was ill, being a cross breed his heart was too small for his mighty frame. That same parallel... In the end we were faced with the horrible fact wed have to humanely put him down. I would have to say it was the hardest and most devastating things Ive ever had to do. I went with him to the vet and help him in my arms looking into his eyes as he was put to sleep.I saw the pain pass as well as his life and wept uncontrollably. I mourned his passing as a brother or child. With the passing of Mr Bear came the sunset of my relationship of my wife. Over the next 6 months I would lose just about everything. I had to literally fight to survive. The story of the marriage breakdown is known well enough... I have no desire to go back there. But as I lay in bed this cold autumn morning I miss that big, oafish, drooling companion. I miss his bulky unconditional love. Sometimes Joey and I talk about getting a dog... but I dont think it would be fair. I would be for ever comparing intentionally or not the poor creature with my dear departed Bear.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 00:00:42 +0000
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