Nutmeg's RB Story

At the end of May 2011, Joe and I were making our way back into Colorado from a road trip to visit family. Our car was packed but we had half of the back seat open in anticipation for what would become the ruler of the Wrona house. We stopped in Fort Collins at the foster family for Nutmeg (FKA Susie). Nutmeg happily hopped into our car and we headed home to Golden. 



We talked to her all the way home. That first night Nutmeg promptly went into her crate. Night #2, it took Joe about 30 minutes to coax her into the crate. Night #3 the coaxing took about an hour. By night #4 Nutmeg had decided she had had enough of the crate and we agreed. So upstairs she ran into our bedroom and up on the bed. Well, we drew the line at the bed and forever after she slept at the foot of our bed on the floor in her bed. We quickly learned that Nutmeg was a burrower and wanted to be tucked in. So out came a throw and each night she waited to be tucked in. If she untucked herself in the middle of the night she would come to the side of the bed and whimper until we got up and re-tucked her. This continued throughout her life; and when she lost her voice, she pulled at the covers to let us know she needed to be tucked back in.

Once we arrived at home we took her for a short walk because her foster father said she didn’t have much endurance. Boy was he wrong. Our first mile turned into two and over time the miles just kept increasing. As Kristen started training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk, Nutmeg became the ever willing and eager training partner. As we got closer to the weekend of the event, we were walking more than 45 miles a week. One Saturday, after a 16 mile walk, Joe and Kristen started working in the garage on a wood project. Nutmeg, being the Velcro dog wanted to be with us, but she was exhausted. We watched her look at us then look at the door, then look at us, then look at the door. Eventually she gave into exhaustion and went and slept in the house. 

With all the walking through town, and having the most handsome dog, we met many neighbors. Nutmeg was the talk of the town. Everyone knew Nutmeg....few knew our names. She loved walking off leash and stayed close at hand. After snow storms, we would walk on the closed golf course and Nutmeg would have the best time. Oh did Nutmeg love to run in the snow. Joe would walk on one side of the fairway and Kristen on the other and Nutmeg would run back and forth between us. She would go rummage in the rough and often found a leg or shoulder bone of a deer to bring us. She was so proud. We wondered how much extra distance she was getting so Joe strapped a GPS to her collar and one to his wrist. Low and behold, she was getting twice the distance. Whenever Joe and Kristen would travel, Nutmeg would stay with friends who also had dogs. The dogs were the best of friends. Feelings were mixed whenever we would leave Nutmeg because she was so excited to stay and play and never seemed to miss us. Always good to know your dog is happy but shouldn’t she miss you more?

After a few years, Kristen got a job which allowed her to work from home—great news for the queen of the house. But just being in the same room was not enough for Nutmeg. Forgetting she was 50 pounds, she would try and share the desk chair as Kristen tried to work. Realizing that we couldn’t both fit on the chair, she would get down and curl up on her couch right behind the desk. This couch allowed her to see out the front window and wait for Post Man Greg. Nutmeg loved Greg, he always brought her a treat – junk mail which she carried around in her mouth until the saliva made mush of the paper.

The day we agreed to take in a foster, Nutmeg was not too thrilled. She loved being an only dog. She was happy to be able to escape this intruder (Amelia) in our bedroom since Amelia stayed in her crate downstairs. Amelia, being a pack dog followed Nutmeg everywhere and eventually wore her down and they became friends. Nutmeg taught Amelia everything there was to know about running the Wrona house. And in return, Amelia brought the puppy back into Nutmeg. And finally, Joe and Kristen agreed, Amelia was in her forever home. We believe Amelia is the reason we were blessed with Nutmeg for nearly 8 years. She was such a joy. She knew when you were sad or not well and would lay next to you. She forgot she wasn’t a lap dog and curled up on you on the couch during snuggle time. And she loved everyone she met….and they loved her. Nutmeg will be greatly missed but she lives on in our hearts and we know she is waiting for us on the other side of the rainbow bridge. 

On January 3, 2019 we knew it was time. Her last couple of days were good days, we went for a good walk, we snuggled, had a special dinner (chicken, pumpkin, and peanut butter – her favorites). By the time we were ready for bed, she could no longer stand on her own. We decided to wait until morning to take her to our vet rather than urgent care. We got her in and she went peacefully. We are all now adjusting to being a single dog family. While Amelia misses her buddy and is learning to be brave and venture out to greet people, she is loving the fact that she gets all the attention now.