Rusty Alan Emerson
May 15, 1997-July 8, 2013

Here's the story of how two cat-loving guys came to have a large dog.

Andy has had German Shepherd-ish dogs for most of his life; the first one was named Rusty, and so was the second one. I actually got to meet Rusty II; he was living with Andy's mom up in Iowa when he passed away in late 1996. Andy was missing his dog in early 1997, and my brother's family happened to be looking for a dog about the same time and found a really nice dog at the pet shop in the Columbia Mall. Andy, the best shopper in the world, browsed through the Central Missouri Humane Society's web site and found a German Shepherd-ish dog named "Rebel" that seemed nice. We went to the Humane Society and met Rebel, who was indeed a nice dog. Rebel just leaned into you when you hugged him, and he seemed very sweet. We were sold on him, and we started to fill out the paperwork for adoption. When the Humane Society folks found out that we had four cats, they told us we couldn't have Rebel. It turns out that there's a city ordinance in Columbia against having more than 4 adult animals in a house. We were devastated. I hope Rebel found a nice home.

We went to the pet shop in the Columbia Mall to see if the dog that my brother's family had liked was still there. That Chocolate Lab was gone, but his brother was still there, and the brother looked like a German Shepherd. We asked if we could see the German Shepherd-ish puppy in a private room, and he was very sweet and very shy. I'll never forget the expressions on Andy and Rusty's faces in that room; if you ever see a painting titled "Madonna and Child" by one of the old masters, look at the expression on Mary's face. That was Andy. The puppy was expressing "I'm a little nervous, but you seem nice. Will you love me?"

The puppy (promptly named Rusty -- the middle name, Alan, was my idea) and several puppy-oriented products came home with us thanks to the miracle of the Discover Card, and we introduced him to the kitties. The cats dealt with the new arrival as their personalities dictated; Tomás fears nothing, Missy didn't seem to understand what was happening, Lulu was shy, and Mandy was crabby. Tomás and Rusty got to be really good buddies; Rusty used to howl when left in the garage all alone, and Tomás was good company for him. Amusing anecdote from Rusty's puppyhood: even as a small puppy, he liked to play fetch, and if we would throw a tennis ball for him to fetch in the back yard, Tomás would outrun him and guard the ball! We called this version of the classic game "thwart-fetch".

We set up a fence in the back yard, but it didn't work very well. We had a chain link fence installed shortly thereafter, and that held Rusty for a few months. Rusty didn't like being outside all alone,and he tore up the screens around the hot tub room and scratched on the house. Andy installed an electric fence around the house so that Rusty would stop destroying things, and eventually he extended the wire all around the top of the chain link fence when Rusty got big enough to climb out. We were having a problem with containing him around the time we moved; he got out a couple of times and had the mail carrier rather traumatized.

A combination of a 4-foot wooden fence and a "radio fence" attached to it used to hold Rusty in most of the time; the only time he got out was when there was a thunderstorm. I don't know if the storm knocked out the electricity long enough for him to get out or if he was so motivated that he just ignored the shocks from his collar, but whenever we heard thunder, we had to go home and let Rusty in. He started life as an outdoor dog, but at this point in his life, he's spending pretty much all his time indoors. He stopped chewing up his bedding, so he has a couple of nice beds in different rooms to relax on and be near the humans.

Things Rusty likes: his basketball, playing keep-away from the humans (especially me, and especially around 8am or 10 pm), running with the humans (especially competitively, and especially at the annual Dog Jog), licking the humans' plates, chasing things that roll, and acquiring anything that resembles a frisbee. His habit of licking the humans to wake them up (while cats are irritating them up for breakfast) has earned him the nickname "Licky Dog".

Things Rusty dislikes: kitty claws, the UPS guy, baths, thunder, having his claws trimmed, and SQUIRRELS.

Click here to hear Rusty bark for 17 seconds (MP3 format)

Fast forward three moves, the acquisition and loss of several pets, and we get to the hard part. Here it is September of 2013, and I still can't write about his passing. I'll just copy Andy's obit from Facebook on July 8, 2013::

"Sad to announce today we said goodbye to Rusty Alan Emerson, age 16, German Shepherd/Lab mix born approximately May 16, 1997 and adopted on July 27, 1997.

"I made the decision on Friday that we would be saying goodbye today. Old age had finally caught up to him and he was having a tough time the past 2 months.

"We had a good morning. I let him lick out a peanut butter jar, put peanut butter on his dog food, took him for a walk although I had to do a lot of the lifting to help him. Also, had several treats and all the cold water he wanted to drink. Waited on him and foot for almost 4 hours this morning.

"Rusty was a family member, friend, running companion, watch dog, protector, and 5 time MU vet school dog jog winner (2001 - 2004 and 2006). From 1997 to 2009, Rusty ran 11 of the MU vet school dog jogs! Rusty LOVED to run throughout his life and enjoyed many walks once he retired from running.

"In 2005 Rusty had ACL repair surgery. An artificial suture was placed alongside the joint to "fool" the knee joint into thinking there is a ligament and permit it to move in a normal fashion. It was difficult to keep Rusty still during the recovery, but he recuperated quickly. Sometimes he would have a setback when he overdid it, but he made a full recovery with no major problems and continued to run for several more years and even winning one more dog jog in 2006.

"Rusty loved peanut butter and always got to lick the jar and he licked one more jar today. One of his favorite outside toys was a basketball that he liked us to throw endlessly and he would fetch. Sometimes he bring it back right away but usually like to play keep away and tease us. Rusty enjoyed de-squeaking dog toys and many didn't survive more than a few minutes. We collected quite a few squeakers that he pulled out of toys over the year. Rusty was voted "Class Clown" in puppy kindergarten. As a young dog he couldn't be kept in a fence and managed to escape and go on several adventures in Columbia (sometimes overnight) until we decided that he would remain inside when we weren't home. When Bruno arrived, he and Bruno would disappear for hours at night when we lived outside the city limits causing us some worry. However, they always returned either barking or scratching on the outside bedroom door. Rusty was known as the "Licky Dog" for his habit of licking us to wake us up. Rusty disliked fire and fireworks and would attempt to put them out and bark when exposed to them.

"Rusty was friend to our dog, Bruno (died Nov 2012) for 8.5 years. At the age of 7, Rusty didn't quite know what to think when Bruno arrived, but he learned to tolerate him and I think he loved him in his own way. Rusty had a few dog friends that preceded him in death - Willis, Tricks, Copper, and Tanner. He was preceded in death by 5 of his cats - Missy, Mandy, Tomas, Patch, and Lulu and is survived by Abby dog, and 4 of his cats - Nisa, Maddie, Mason, and Coltan. He was also loved by the staff at MyZoo Animal Hospital that took really good care of him as his vet and also when we were out of town. Rusty's memory will be honored later this year when we sponsor another dog (currently Bruno) kennel through the Central Missouri Humane Society's Shelter-Me program.

"Rusty was an awesome dog and will be greatly missed.

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