It is with a heavy heart that I advise of Boris’ passing earlier this week.
Boris (B’man) was the very first Pooch on the ‘Walk. He was there at the outset, easing me into it gently, and for that I will always be eternally grateful. I remember meeting with Boris and hoping that he wouldn’t display an air of indifference towards me when I was trying to make a good impression. I shouldn’t have worried…we were walking when we met and Boris was always a happy chap when he was walking or out in the elements. We hit it off straight away and continued to enjoy a comfortable and easy rapport. Indeed, the sight of his excited tail wagging through the door of a morning was always an uplifting event in my day.
As the ‘Walk grew Boris was an ever present. He welcomed (and in some cases I think put up with) each new pooch in his normal good natured way. He played with them when he felt like it, refereed them when it was necessary, travelled as part of the pack when it was required and enjoyed his own company whilst following the latest exciting aroma and having a wander …always just within eyesight.
Boris was a very clever boy…I was always learning things that he could do. I like to think that it was his way of training me…. (” think you know all about me do you….well, what about this…!”). I remember occasions when he felt it necessary to make some exasperated noise or to give me a nudge if I was asking the group to do something that he was already doing…or when he kidnapped and held a ball or Kong to ransom in order to elicit a treat or two (Boris would never baulk at showing me his repertoire of tricks if he felt I was being tardy in the treat department!).
Paradoxically it always amused me that Boris could exhibit selective ‘deafness’ whilst at the same time having the ability to hear a treat bag at 400 metres and to give Usain Bolt a run for his money when I uttered his favourite phrase “what have we got”…a surefire sign that a treat was in the pipeline.
Boris was a real outdoorsman. He cherished exploring, fresh air, snow and swimming. He was always energised when the temperatures dropped and the white stuff fell. His ever-present smile was always that bit larger and his tail always wagged that bit quicker.
Boris loved his family and they adored him. When out he always made a b-line towards any young child he saw, just in case it was his own little person from home.
His passing has left a gaping hole in his family’s lives; one that will gradually, over time, be filled with a myriad of fantastic memories of adventures with a big, beautiful, bouncy, loving, happy boy.
In short, Boris was my friend; a confidante, a sounding post for ideas, a wingman and a jolly good egg whose company I always enjoyed.
His family, the crew and I will miss him very much.
Mr Poochman's Pooch House 