“Hey Ma, Spencerville is puppin’ perfect. With buddies, Fetch! toys, White Westie frolics, and cheese nights, it’s tail-wagging fun. Though vet visits are a ruff patch, I’m learning and growing. Remember ‘We inherit the strength of our challenges?’ Love that. Miss you, but I’m preparing here until we meet on Rainbow Bridge. Woofy love, Tanner”

Listen to the story here

So there I was, Tanner, born of the luscious tan-clad beauty of a mom, and the regally rotund, Spencer. Raised in the nearly perfect hamlet of Spencerville, a place where the sun always shines and good times never end. Perhaps I should explain a bit about our dear Spencerville. It’s not your average picturesque town – it’s a last gathering place, a haven for pets that had passed away, where we enjoy a life closer to human than animalistic, away from our beloved human parents but where we know we’ll see them once more.

It wasn’t all sad and waiting, though. Spencerville had its perks. Picture this, my buddies, Fat Russell and Millie, by my side, frequenting Fetch! Toys and Treats, pawing at the latest stuffed animals which catch our fancy. For us, it was hunting in its furriest, cuddliest form. Playing in the White Westie Woods by day and dining at Doggy Delight by night was our idea of doggy heaven.

There were downsides too, of course. Every dog has a bone to pick with something, and for me, it was the vet visits. You see, I am a lover, not a fighter, and nothing screams war zone louder than the scraping of those ear cleaning tools. But hey, I could afford one or two tiny quirks, especially when I was living it up in the tranquil landscapes of Spencerville.

Nothing beat my cheese nights though! Visiting Kibble Cuisine for their cheese specials was a treat. I would practically drool while I waited every Saturday night for my routine dairy luxury. It was only fair, right? We’d be heroes to our humans; we deserved this slice of happiness.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Spencerville was a place of growth, akin to a cocoon, preparing us for when we reunite with our owners. Living under the wise guidance of my dad, the Mayor, I learned a lot. I discovered the art of patience while watching the city-dogs adjusting to our peaceful town, I even witnessed the resilience of embracing elements one found daunting, thanks to the aqua-phobic buddies successfully facing the pool at Spa for Paws. But it was Spencer’s words that had the most significant impact, “Tanner, we inherit the strength of our challenges.”

For a town of dogs unafraid to learn, Spencerville was a candy shop. Our coming-of-age was not marred by teen angst. Instead, it brimmed with lessons cloaked in seemingly mundane activities, ensuring we become the best versions of ourselves while we waited to cross that final rainbow bridge. Far from the hustle of the living world, here in Spencerville, we build up, inch by inch, bone by bone.

The End.