Doodle Bug was a very special dog who was born on Halloween, 1994 and died on January 27, 2009 at the age of 14 years and 3 months."Run, run as fast as you can;
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."
This is how Doodle Bug came into our lives in October of 2001.
He had gotten out of his yard and he took off running as fast as he could. He had run for 3 or 4 blocks right into our garage. The only problem was it was getting dark and he didn't know where he was. Since he had no collar on we didn't know where he came from so couldn't contact his owners.We took his picture and posted signs around our neighborhood.
When no word came from his owners I took him to the vet to get checked out. He had cataracts (but he could still see) and bad periodontal disease, and, in fact he lost 2 teeth right away. His owners did eventually see a sign and came to claim him. When I exclaimed how much I already loved him, they consented to letting me keep him.
Doodle Bug joined a large family... there were his new brothers, Pogo and Blue and his new cousin, Molly. Walks were quite exciting!
Doodle Bug's favorite pasttime was looking out the window and barking at school buses, golf carts, and motorcycles. He was going to keep us safe!
He loved his evenings with the family.
He also loved family trips even though it got a bit crowded in the back seat between Pogo and Blue. He did have his own special seat between the big dogs so he could look out the front window. We went to Austin many times and to the beach a couple of times. He was such a good traveler.
Melinda was always using him for a model for the numerous photo courses she took and I think he really loved posing. 
This was a fun assignment as he got to ride with his head out the window!The pictures below reminded me of the times when Doodle Bug could still see. There was a knothole in the fence that he would look through to see what was going on in the outside world. Other times he would sit and look at the flower beds. Then when I wasn't looking he would scramble in and find a turtle. He'd scoop it up in his mouth and then run into the house through the doggie door. Because he never went in without me, I was puzzled. Then I discovered that when he found a turtle he would sneak in and I could find him in a corner of the house somewhere watching his little pet.
By Christmas this year, Doodle had slowed down quite a bit. Kendall decorated him as he rested in the corner so he wouldn't feel left out of the festivities. He was such a sweetheart and we will surely miss him.
