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Charlie has no interest in things that cause me anguish and he is constant, loving, pacifying. Every day with a good dog like Charlie is worth a whole lot more than a day without one. Photo ©Marion Williams

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My dog Charlie is only six years old and has been in these pages a couple of times in the past. When I got back from my recent (almost free) sortie to the Aussie outback (see “Weewondilla” next issue), I noticed that beautiful Great Dane had a slight limp.

I rushed him to see Steve Talbot DMV and according to that talented vet and a radiologist at U.C. Davis, Charlie has bone cancer. I will not let him hurt too much because there will come a time when I will become his Kervorkian. Many people have asked me, “Why Great Danes? Their life expectancy is only seven years!”

To a Dane owner, the benefits are obvious. Charlie’s typical. His personality is just about perfect. He’s therapeutic. He has no interest in the things that cause me anguish and he is constant, loving, pacifying. I figured out years ago that every day with a good dog is worth a lot more than a day without one. Charlie’s worth twice that.

I don’t mean to get into the depths of canine mush here but every day with that hound has been a great one. He’s even helped with RANGE by relieving pressure on me, because I share the pressures of the people who live and work on the land. Charlie has been RANGE’s salvation, but so have my previous Danes, Laverne and Shirley, and Sharkey and Annie. Charlie’s sister Billie Holliday still is.

Next time we visit, Charlie may be gone, but he won’t be forgotten. The photo above is my favorite, with Billie demanding a scratch and that 165-pound canine sitting on my lap. Those are my boots and head you can barely see. This is Charlie’s lovely and weighty way of saying hello. It’s my way of saying a sweet and tender goodbye.