My daughter Clair (Creepychick13) wrote this story about her dog "Zero"
Zero, our Blue Healer/Labrador mix, who we named after Jack Skellington’s dog on A Nightmare Before Christmas, found us one night while Darren was working on a prop he was building for a haunted house. Zero was a scrawny, skin and bones, puppy-faced stray. He was friendly and seemed to have a good temperament. We decided that he had chosen us and that we were going to take care of him. We tried to bring Zero inside, but he would have none of that, but also didn’t want to leave our yard. So, Darren built him a fenced run and a heated dog house. We fed him, took him to the vet, and cared for him until he was healthy. He never got fat, because that boy loved to run!
When we moved to a house with a fenced in yard, Zero came with us. He ran at top speed around that giant yard and majestically jumped over the two foot high rock wall that is positioned in the middle of the yard (I always imagined a bounding deer). He loved it! He found that the ground at the foot of a giant oak tree in the yard made a great bed and would sleep in the sun under that tree for hours.
Zero still didn’t want to be inside at the new house, but Darren made a little “apartment” for him in our basement, so he could be sheltered, but not feel trapped. Of course, we would still find Zero outside in a nest he’d made in the snow, so there were days that we would have to make him stay in the basement…we were afraid he would get too cold. On hot summer days, he would sleep near the air conditioner outside, which really wasn’t very cool. On super-hot days, we would have to make him stay inside too.
He was a smart dog. Darren taught him to stay at the door of the garage, unless Darren said he could come inside. He played fetch and pulled the rope with us. He would chew my arm and tackle me when I went outside with him—he wanted to play. He still hung on to his “stray” habits and would bury his food around the yard, so he could go get it later. He was a good kid and loved Darren unconditionally. He love me too, but he was Darren’s dog and would watch every move Darren would make.
On September 10, 2016, Zero lost a hard-fought fight with heartworms. Our entire family is devastated, but we know that he’s no longer suffering. As weak as he was, he picked himself up, walked outside, and laid down under his favorite oak tree. It was a beautiful, sunny day. He fell asleep under the tree, in the sun, which is where he was at peace. He is buried there now, so he can remain at peace.
We will miss you, Zero, our baby dog.
Congrats you two FTF's Traveling Armadillos and BonsaiGuy