Scoter

On September 20th, 1995 (I was 12) Scoter came into my life. This evening, April 20th, 2008 he has passed away.


Scoter (pronounced Scooter, like the 2-wheeled thing you ride) was named after the White-winged Scoter, hence the funny spelling. Scoter was a yellow lab so we called him Yellow-winged Scoter.

It's really hard to lose a loved one, but thankfully God has been at work in my life so I think I'll make it. For the last four weeks at church, the theme of the series has been death. What is death? How do we deal with death? And most importantly, how can we live for God until our death? Every one of those weeks has really hit home for me with Scoter's passing and has once again got me thinking about my life. Am I headed in the right direction? Am I pursuing God's will? Gosh, life is so fleeting - "life is but a mist that quickly evaporates" (somewhere in the Bible, I was never good at memorizing where) - how can I make the most of it?

There were certain things in life Scoter loved. He love to play fetch. Oh my, he would run and run until he literally couldn't stand anymore. He would be breathing so hard I would think he would die on the spot. But the instant he rested just a little bit, he'd be right back at your feet with his ball waiting for you to throw it.

Scoter also loved to be pet. I mean, sometimes it got to be a little much because I'd be typing at the computer or eating something and he'd come over and pull my arm away with his nose so I could pet him. He would also start standing up and then slowly sink closer and closer to the floor to see if he could be laying down and get pet at the same time. I would suddenly realize I was three inches away from my cereal bowl and fully bent over in my chair. There would be Scoter, fully sprawled out on the floor soaking up every bit of my attention. Of course, then I would sit up and he too would immediately pop up and the process would start all over again. What a funny dog.

Something that made Scoter such a wonderful dog was is intelligence. Here's on thing I learned: if you want to enjoy your animals, get smart ones. It makes such a difference when they actually learn quickly. For example, Scoter loved to hunt for pheasants. All you'd have to do was let him sniff a single feature and he was off looking for them. However, we also owned chickens and he regularly ate out of the same bowl with them - he was smart enough to know the difference. By the way, our cat, Boots, will probably miss him the most as she many times ate and drank out of the same bowls as him, and cuddled up with him to sleep.

I could go on and on with stories about him, especially camping stories. His favorite camping pass-time? Hike a pine cone backwards between his hind legs and chase after it. Yes, hours of entertainment for Scoter. Come to find out, he REALLY likes the water too. We once took him to a lake and he did not want to get out. He just paddled and paddled and paddled. The funniest was when he would splash the water with his paws and then try to catch the water in his mouth. Who does that?!

Scoter was a great friend and family member. He will be greatly missed and even though Jessi and I will surly own our fair share of dogs, I don't think any will be able to compare to him.







This video clip is part of a longer movie my brother and I put together. Basically, Matthew is trying to get in shape and I come up with creative ways to help. This one involved Scoter and a tennis ball.




Shortly after the Crock Hunter also passed away, my brother and I put together this video. In this one we are hunting for... the Scoter. Notice how he just lets us mess with him.