Jonathan P. Baird lives in Wilmot.

On March 2, my dog Shady died suddenly and unexpectedly. He was eleven. He had not been sick.

He wolfed down his breakfast, then threw it all up, pooped in the house — which was very unlike him — and then had trouble getting up. He managed to go outside to pee, but he was definitely out of sorts and he cried and whimpered a little. Within an hour, he was gone. I remain in a state of disbelief that Shady is no longer with us.

People often said he was the biggest golden retriever they had ever seen, He weighed over 120 pounds, but he wasn’t fat, just very large-boned with beautiful body lines. As my friends Sally and Kim have said, Shady was a gentle giant. He was a big presence in my not-so-big house.

Shady had a mind of his own, and occasionally he would take off. There is a two-mile loop near my house we call the Dingle. One time we were walking it, Shady took off into the woods and would not come back. I yelled quite a bit and then returned home. No Shady. Around dusk, a neighbor who lives about a mile away called me and said Shady was there. I drove right over, and when I arrived, Shady bolted into my car. I guess he was scared, too.

He was a chow hound and kind of an omnivore. He was one of those dogs who would eat so fast you would want him to slow down, but it was impossible. He was not part of the slow food movement. He loved treats, and I admit I loved to spoil him. Donuts were his thing, especially apple cider donuts.

He had a way of spreading out around the house. When he slurped water, he left a big trail. He was a perpetual shedding machine and his long hair lived to destroy vacuum cleaners.

Shady loved toys. Of all the toys he ever got, he liked this little toy duck we named Ms. Quacky best. He proudly would carry Ms. Quacky around in his mouth as he pranced around being King Dog. My younger dog, Blue, also loved Ms. Quacky.

Of all the things we did together, I think hiking mountains was Shady’s favorite. He would run ahead and come back. He was the friendliest of dogs. I was always proud of Shady’s good nature because he was so friendly to everyone, dogs and people. It was like he expected to be loved. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body.

I named Shady after the former Philadelphia Eagles running back Lesean “Shady” McCoy. That Shady had great moves. It was disconcerting when that Shady got traded to the Buffalo Bills when my Shady was still young. I wanted Shady to be on the Eagles! That trade was one of Chip Kelly’s worst moves.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, working at home, Shady and Blue were my constant companions and they helped me cope with the social isolation. It did make me think more about the human-dog relationship. Dogs fill a gap. Their unconditional loyalty surpasses human loyalty. Maybe part of why humans love dogs so much is that their love and devotion is undivided. It is rare to get that same level of affection from our fellow humans.

There are a couple shout-outs connected to Shady that I need to offer. My friend and neighbor Wendy Lavallee is a dog person extraordinaire. For almost Shady’s life, Wendy helped me, took Shady and Blue and cared for them while I was at work. Wendy has her own dog care business and my dogs could not have been in better hands. Wendy has a magical connection with dogs.

I also need to thank my union, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE). Our union negotiated a great collective bargaining agreement featuring telework rights which allowed more time to work from home. Needless to say, my dogs loved it, as did I. As a federal worker, that now is threatened. If we lose that and have to return to the office full-time, I don’t know how I could explain it to Blue.

We had a bunch of nicknames for Shady: the Shademeister, Mr. Shady, Shady Boy, Big Puppy and Shade. He was my Dog Emeritus. The dog had an amazing ability to make people happy. He had a radiant spirit. His passing is a reminder of the importance of loving and telling your love because you never know what will happen next.

I saw a dog quote that I like: “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” I was privileged to have Shady in my life. You could not ask for a better friend.