I thought I had all the stories about Emmet. Our friend Sue sent us this story, that I had forgotten about.

“But I hope that you find some comfort in the many touching and funny memories you have of Emmet. He did provide plenty of material :-).

My favorite memory of Emmet was when Bucky and Emmet were in Big Dog class together, and one particular class we met at Kohl’s at Knollwood Mall to train the dogs with the wheelchairs. Carina was training Emmet that night because Pete was doing something else that evening. Carina and I decided to head back to the women’s lingerie department; typical of lingerie departments, we knew the clothing racks would be packed closely together and would therefore provide good opportunities to practice the dog-wheelchair positioning skills.

We women are well aware of how frustrating it is to shop for bras; they are by nature easy to knock from the racks and their flimsy hangers as you attempt to find their little tag with the size and sort through them. Well, there was a couple of round clearance racks of bras. Since the bras were packed in tight, previous shoppers had knocked quite a few to the floor in attempt to sort through them.

Emmet just could not stand the sight of all those abandoned bras on the floor. They should not be there, delicate objects touching the uncouth floor! They must be presented to Alpha-Carina! Unsolicited, as I recall, he dove under the racks and began retrieving each bra, with typical over-the-top Emmet zeal. A big male black lab with a mouthful of bras, in public, is quite a sight! Carina was in stitches, and she and I were crying we were laughing so hard! Seems to me Carina asked Emmet something to the effect of, “Emmet, what’s Pete been teaching you?”.

I also recall that night Emmet retrieved, unsolicited, an enormous, heavy gift basket filled with fancy toiletries, which made the mistake of being displayed on the floor. Emmet was an unmatched retrieving maniac, and housekeeper, I imagine!”

Isn’t that a great story?

–Pete

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Emmet had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma in July of 2008. He died on September 27, 2008 of an unrelated condition called GDV, more commonly known as bloat. He was 10 years old. For a photo tribute of his life, click here.

Tags: Dogs, Emmet, Labrador Retriever