Ode to Porter
The following is a tribute or ode to Porter, one of the dogs rescued and adopted from Jan Flaherty and California GSP Rescue. Fiona, and her family, adopted Porter many years ago and gave him a wonderful life. Thank you, Fiona & James.
I am writing this tribute to my wonderful GSP Porter, who sadly had to pass over the Rainbow Bridge on Monday, Dec 30th. We loved Porter very much. We adopted him from Jan Flaherty at the So Cal GSP Rescue in Feb 2003, when he was 4 years old. Porter passed on at the ripe old age of 15! This is an amazing age for a shorthair to live to and gives you a glimpse into how strong a hold on life this dog had.
Porter was a big, solid liver male and very handsome. While Porter lived with many pretty show dogs in our house, he was just as good looking as all his roommates! His favorite girl in our house was Heidi, who used to love to snuggle up next to him on his bed or the couch.
One of Porter’s favorite pastimes as a younger dog included visits to the Irvine Bark Park to indulge his tennis ball obsession! He loved for anyone to throw a ball for him and then he’d bring it promptly back and drop it in their lap! Usually he would pick some random person who was sitting minding their own business for this special treatment. Luckily the dog park is filled with dog lovers and they would happily oblige! He would retrieve endlessly and it was a great source of entertainment and exercise for him.
He also liked to visit his pals at the Rescue and was a regular at many of the Rescue events in the late 2000’s. His escapades were legendary and his reputation preceded him. He enjoyed sampling the delights of the food table at Meatballs and Movies, until the poor chef had to surround himself with x-pens to avoid Porter stealing dinner! He attended quite a few of the Rescue Holiday parties, one year complete with a cast with “keep me clean” written on it that didn’t slow him down! He was also a great ambassador for the breed and used to represent at the Rescue booth at the San Diego Fair, Petco, Mission Bay, etc.
As a young dog, Porter was also an escape artist and if the mood took him, he would like to visit our neighbors. Eventually we were able to contain him with a fence top zapper but in the meantime, he did manage to invite himself to a few neighborhood pool parties! He loved swimming. If someone left their front door open, he would just walk in and visit with them.
With all of Porter’s escapades, I decided he needed some serious obedience training. Despite a rocky start he passed his obedience classes and got a Canine Good Citizen award. He went onto try therapy dog training but unfortunately holding a stay while a corgi ran past him with a tennis ball proved a little much for him! He did very well with his training though and we were proud of him.
More than anything Porter was our beloved companion and a permanent fixture in our house for 11 years. He had the sweetest personality and was a gentle giant. So patient with all the dogs we have had over the years and always a constant in their lives and ours.
We miss him terribly but we know now that he runs free with his friends Heidi and Baron over the rainbow bridge. Porter you lived a good long life and gave us so much of yourself. Rest in peace sweet boy, we will meet again.
Porter - 11.6.98–12.30.13