At roughly noon on Saturday April 11, 2009, Jared's Precious Jordi, better known as "The Poo" departed this earth. He lost the ongoing battle with recurrent cases of acute pancreatitis. Despite the most valiant efforts of the veterinary staff at Blythewood Animal Hospital, he passed with his human family at his side leaving behind a devastated pack including his faithful canine companion of 11 years, Matthew's Little Dixie, better known as "The Chi."

We will sorely miss his feisty antics and his boundless enthusiasm for life in the pack, but we are left with many fond memories of his comic adventures and misadventures often chronicled

here in The Columbia

Star. His passing leaves our house empty but our hearts full of the love he freely dispensed while he was here. His passing marks the end of "The Canine Americans" series as we know it and perhaps the beginning of something new. After a suitable period of mourning, I will, for awhile, begin sharing the stories of other people's Canine Companions beginning next month with Bob, a talented lab with more slick tricks than one can imagine.