Tikhon

Tikhon was a tiny little English Toy Spaniel who I was given in 2006, a few months before I moved to Pittsburgh. He was 3 when he was given to me and his given name was Aladdin. Aladdin was not a name that I wanted to have for a dog, so I decided to name him Tikhon (pronounced tee-khon) after one of the Patriarchs of Russia. I gave him the honorary title “Tikhon, Puppyarch of all America, Canada and Ortho-dogs.” . He weighed 7 lbs at 3 years old, compred to Oliver who at his heaviest weighed 21 lbs. Tikhon was initially given to me to give to my foster mom, Aunt Kathy, but she did not want him, so I kept him. He was given to me because he was very attached to his mother and when she died the breeder decided he needed to find a home. He was the runt of the litter and was dropped on his head the first day he was alive. He clearly had a few issues mentally, but he was such an adorable little guy. At first Oliver and Brittany were not accepting of him and treated him very badly. That changed the day that I moved from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. Oliver and Brittany decided they needed Tikhon to help them explore the new house with them and from that day on he was included in their pack.

Tikhon was a hilarious little guy. When he would get excited he would spin in circles and yalp a high pitched bark at the top of his lungs. One of my neighbors referred to him as “spinner.” He was terrified of Oliver until I got Ruutu. I made the mistake of letting Ruutu loose in the house the day I got her instead of taking her to the pack and setting her in front of the pack to introduce her to them. She found Tikhon and pounced him. It seems that she though that due to his small size he was a puppy just like she was. From that day forward he stuck to Oliver’s side like glue. When he would leave his kennel he would look both ways to see if Ruutu was around and then run to Oliver’s side for protection.

I only had Tikhon for 4 years. He died from his heart murmur rupturing one day in August 2010. One morning my ex-wife yelled up to me to come quickly because Tikhon was dying. My ex was known to over react to things so I didn’t walk down the steps as fast as I otherwise would have. When I got to him he was lifeless. I picked him up to call the vet and as I was talking to the vet he coughed up blood and water. He was gone. I made him a coffin out of a rubber made container and put an a small cross in there with him. While carrying the coffin to the back yard to bury him I opened the coffin and yelled at the top of my lungs “Wake up Tikhon! This is not funny!” The ex reassured me that he was truly gone and we went on to bury him. About an hour after I buried him I was doing the dishes and moping. It was shortly before my birthday and under my breath I said “I know what you can get me for my damned birthday.” She responded “Go find him immediately.” The resulting puppy was Lambert.

May Tikhon’s memory be eternal.