Farewell Hurley....

Little Hurley (right) with his best mate and big brother Buddy.

Its been a sad couple of days at our place. On Friday morning, our little dog, Hurley, got out the front, went for a wander, and on his way home, got hit by a car. The car wasn't travelling fast, but a small dog doesn't stand much hope against a car, and despite the fact that I was there and able to put him straight in the car to race him to the vet, he died on the way. I'm writing this, not because we necessarily want you to read it, but as a way of remembering Hurley who was definately a part of our family.

Hurley (left) loved to curl up with his brother and kitten friends.

We bought Hurley, a pugalier (3/4 cavalier king charles, 1/4 pug) as a puppy in 2010 when the boys had started kinder. Our main reason for getting him was as a friend for our other dog, Buddy, as the boys and I wouldn't be around as often once they started school. We contacted the breeders whom we'd bought Buddy from and they had one puppy, a little boy (Buddy's half brother as it turns out) that they weren't going to sell because he had a hernia. We bought him anyway, and the hernia sorted itself out.

Hurley - such a beautiful puppy.

I remember sitting at the computer looking at a picture of the puppy before we picked him up, Lachie and I were trying to decide on a name. I decided he looked like a cool, surfer dog, and we came up with Hurley - Hurley Burley.

Hurley was Buddy's best mate as soon as we got him. They became inseparable and for the next three years could be seen out playing in the yard or sleeping on the couch together. Hurley preferred to sit on top of Buddy, rather than next to him, and at night, they could be found curled up together in one little dog bed, despite having one each.

But Hurley was different to Bud. Buddy hates water, but Hurley loved it! As a puppy, he was always trying to get in the bath with the kids. One day we granted his wish! From then on, we had to lock him out of the bathroom.

A puppy in the bath!  All three of them loved it!

Hurley was such a happy dog, always smiling, dancing or doing the 'paw thing'. You couldn't help smiling at Hurley, even when he was being naughty. Everyone who visited loved Hurls, even kids who didn't really like dogs, and our kittens would follow him around the garden to get him to play with them or curl up with him for a cuddle.

When the kittens came home they too loved Hurley.

Hurley loved food and was frequently referred to as 'the little pig' as he would steal any food he could get near and for quite a while would sneak into the laundry behind me and then hide, so I would end up locking him in there where he would devour the cats' biscuits!

Hurley was always ready with a kiss.

We buried Hurley in our backyard on Friday night. There were lots and lots of tears from us and Buddy was clearly upset too. We intend to build a new garden around where Hurley is buried, a place where we can go to remember the three years we had with our happy, dancing, smiling puppy.