Wellington

NameWellington
[Pre-AKC
Recognition
of
Australian
Cattle Dog]		Wellington P Bonaparte, ESQ
Honorary Golden Retriever
GenderMale!
Weight44 lbs. Winter
37 lbs. Summer
Photos
How I Was NamedWanting an Australian name and perusing the map…

Wellington is from Wellington, New South Wales, northwest of Sydney.

Bonaparte came from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf on the northern coast.

My Dad came to stay with me when Wellington was a puppy, and one morning I woke and found him sharing breakfast with W. He was chatting away with him and calling him Wellington PEE Bonaparte. I asked him what the P stood for… and he looked at me very matter-of-factly and said, “PEE”. Turns out that Wellington had come and peed right by the side of his bed overnight… and my Dad swung his legs out of bed and put his foot right into the puddle. 😂

So for-ever-after… he was known as
Wellington P Bonaparte.
My IntroWritten by Comet…

Wellington was my brother. He and I were born on the same day of different years. He was born in 1984, and I was born in 1999. I owe him the great fortune of the life I live, and I still pause wistfully at the mention of his name.

You see, Mom and Wellington were satisfied with their lives together. But when Aunt Susan, who was present at my birth, called to Mom that she had to have me… well, from what I hear, though reluctant, Mom considered the events some sort of divine calling.

I don’t know if it was divine or not. What I do know is that Wellington, while not enthusiastic about a new protege/sister, was patient, tolerant and (he would kill me for saying this) very ‘mothering’.

He was patient. He was kind. He was my protector. It was funny. He would let me get by with any indiscretion, as long as Mom wasn’t a witness. Once he saw her, he would growl to scold me.

He tried his best to teach me. I swear, he knew everything. He knew what to do and when. He tried to show me how to be, but I was a wee bit resistant, full of mischief and a wee bit jealous.

What I know now is that he was trying to show me how to take care of Mom. You see, Wellington was the ONE constant in Mom’s life. He saw her through all of her losses. He worried about her, and he stood strong for her. And I believe in the end, he entrusted her to me.
BlogWellington would not have been interested in blogging. He was concerned with Security and Protection and would be appalled by the thought of sharing our lives with those on the WWW. He expressed himself through behavior and wasn’t keen on sharing his family with others. I’m sure he would have kept The Media Secretary™ on a very tight leash!
OccupationPersonal Protection / Body Guard.
Security.
Herder.
Therapist / Emotional Support.
Rescuer.
InterestsBeing Near My Person.*
Being A Part of Everything.*
Keeping My Eye on Everything.*
Fetch. You Throw It. I’ll Fetch It.
Frisbee. All Day.
Herding.
Favorite ColorBlack. And Tan. Manly Colors.
Favorite GamesFetch. The King of Fetch. He would always drop the item at my feet. If I said, “I can’t reach it.”… He would pick it up and deliver to my hand.

Frisbee. Championship Level. Fast, Far and Accurate.

So fun to play games with a dog who returns 100% of the Time. ‘Quit’ was NOT in his vercabulary!
Favorite TraditionMorning Cleaning of Mom’s Eyes.
Morning Cleaning of Comet’s Eyes.
Only Eating in Mom’s Presence.
TraitsIntuitive [beyond canine or human].
Wise [beyond reason].
Devoted. He would take a bullet for his Mom.
High Drive, Emotionally Stable.
Serious.
Comet’s MemoriesMy birthday is always full of fun and frivolity, songs and good food. But there are also quiet moments… moments when Mom prays over me, with her hand caressing my neck… and moments when she tells me stories… about my birth and adoption, and about my brother, Wellington.

Wellington left our world in the summer of 2001. He was over 17 years old. I was just over 2 years old. In that two years we shared together, I remember many things:

1. He knew everything. He knew how to be.
2. He could hold it forever (unfathomable to me at the time).
3. And when it was time, he knew where to pee… and poop. (Ok, I admit it… I was confused for a while).
4. He knew how… and when… to sleep. (Again… me… confused).
5. He knew how to fetch. He knew if Mom threw it, she meant for it to be brought back to her. (I still don’t get that… if she throws it, doesn’t that mean she doesn’t want it???). And he knew what “I can’t reach it” meant. (Again with the confusion).
6. He was our protector. He was suspicious and intuitive… me, not so much so.
7. He comforted Mom in a way I didn’t know how… but I’ve learned.
8. He was the best early morning eye licker in the world… paws down.
9. He savored his food and preferred Mom’s company to the isolation of our food bowls… making him an easy mark for swiping food.
10. He knew that paper is not a food group… though I’m still not convinced.

And here’s what I’ve learned from the stories:

1. When we tracked in dirt and mud, and Mom asked, “Were you born in a barn???”… he could, legitimately answer… ‘why, yes… yes, I was’ “.
2. He had broad horizons and lived lots of places, adapting well to every one of them: Melrose (farm) to Austin (townhouse) to Nacogdoches (house to house) to College Station (house) to Bryan (house) to Houston (apartment to house to house to townhouse).
3. Grandpa gave him his middle initial, ‘P’… for what Mom calls all the obvious reasons.
4. He had the good fortune to know his Grandma and Grandpa and all of their love. I wasn’t born in time to know them… but Mom is sure they love me, too.
5. He was there for Mom through all of her losses.
6. I was there for her when she lost Wellington. I learned how… from him.
Motivation100% Devotion.
The Thrill of Engagement & The Opportunity to Do It Again.
What’s Right is Right.
UniqueHe could say “I love you”.
He could also say “Lillehammer”.
He understood hundreds of words and phrases, even spellings.
He would not eat if Mom wasn’t there with him.
He would take a mouthful of kibble from his bowl and take it to where she was sitting… drop it on the floor… and then eat small bites. Looking deeply into her eyes before swallowing each bite.
StoryWay, way, a long time ago in a previous life… I was in a relationship with a guy that I eventually married.

His parents owned a cattle farm in the country. Across the road, there was a family that occasionally bred their Australian Cattle Dogs to produce working dogs. I fell in love with one litter of their pups, and they offered to me one.

I was a college kid on a tight budget with a LOVE for dogs. My parents highly disapproved. I left my miniature poodle and German Shorthair Pointer with my Mom and Dad when I left for the dorm life of college and upon getting my first apartment, I quickly adopted a miniature poodle from the humane society. When Wellington was offered to me, I was heading into the last semester in The School of Architecture.

I took him back to school with me, anyway!
Back Story
NicknamesDub
Dubya
DubDub
Wells
Welly
Peter-Pooter-Tooter-Wooter
Bud
Sweet Boy
Favorite MovieCrocodile Dundee
Favorite ActorsClint Eastwood
Chuck Norris
John Wayne
Favorite CharacterHe would have loved Rip on Yellowstone.
Message to the WorldDon’t automatically blame The Dingo!