PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Anyone who has gone through the agony of putting down a dog knows how difficult it is.

For dog lovers, that is.

And, I am one, along with my wife Nancy.
About 10 days ago, we reached a consensus decision, with advice from others (including our friends and dog lovers, John and Rosemary Wood), that it was time to put down our dog, Hogan, who had been with us for more than 13 years.

We got Hogan, a pure-bred Poodle, when he was a puppy. We did so to give me a walking partner shortly after my “episode,” which is the word I prefer over heart attack…but it was that, a heart attack.

Through the efforts of my wife and my son, not to mention my cardiologist and all of the health professionals at Salem Health, I managed to survive. But I had to give up running and the game of squash, so the challenge was to find a walking partner.

Along came Hogan – and we settled quickly on his name after getting separate advice from our two children who both suggested the same name. It is after the great golfer, Ben Hogan, not, I add quickly, Hulk Hogan.

So, Hogan came into our lives and quickly became our best buddy.

We walked day-after-day in our neighborhood and Hogan loved the treks, especially when they involved the golf course where he thought it was his right to chase squirrels.

I also took him along when I played, though only at times when the course was not busy. Hogan would stay in my golf cart until I gave him permission to jump out and run around, an activity he loved. The squirrels were in danger!

About six years ago, Hogan came down with a disease called Cushings, which affects some dogs, some horses and some humans. The disease, which has few cures, involved a tumor in our dog’s pituitary gland.

Without a cure, we put Hogan on daily medication and he survived well, losing some of the early incontinence, which was one symptom of the disease.

But, by hindsight, Cushings was the beginning of the end for Hogan, though it took a few years to become a real problem. He lost his hearing and much of his eyesight. He also would tend to walk around in a circle, always moving around to the right, one evidence, our vet said, of the tumor that still resided in his brain.

Our view was that it was best for Hogan for him to go down, though I have to add that adjusting to the reality of his loss was far more difficult for me than I thought it would be.

The vet, Dr. Kris Hallden, who presided with us over the process of putting Hogan down, was very kind and compassionate in that process, for she loved Hogan, too, have treated his Cushings for years.

There is a hole in our home which now can only be filled by a new dog. So, we are looking for one who won’t replace our best buddy, but will, we hope, fill a similar spot in our lives.

Looking forward to a new relationship dominates my thoughts these days because it is one way to get past Hogan’s loss, even as I retain so many positive memories of his huge role in our lives.

The face on my phone is a picture of wife, Nancy, and Hogan, so, in that way, too, I remember him fondly.

I shared this story a few days with my best friend and former pastor, Morris Dirks, who lost his best buddy, Berkeley, several years ago.

Morris believes Berkeley is in heaven and, soon, he said, will be looking for Hogan, for he will be there, too.

And, yuou live on in my heart, too, best buddy!