By Caroline Page

Silver; he lived his life how he wanted. We could all learn from him!

As we talked, Arnold’s eyes would sometimes fill with tears as he remembered his old friend and companion, Silver.  He said, “Silver always had a human; it wasn’t the other way around”, and he was Silver’s human for several years.  Arnold’s brother Wayne owned Pancho’s Hotel on 5^th, home of Frida’s , a popular hangout until it closed last year.  Wayne would be in and out of town on an irregular schedule, staying for two or three days at a time.  Somehow, Silver always knew when he was in and he’d come by to visit.  One day six years ago, after they met up at Pancho’s, Silver walked Arnold home and stayed......

He was well known for walking people home.  At one point, he knew four women bartenders working at different places, and he would pick them up from work every night and walk them home, or to a taxi, or wherever they were going.  Silver picked up tourists and spent time with them too.  When Arnold wondered where he was, and it was May, there was a particular condo where he could always find him.  Other tourists would come to town several times a year, and Silver would move in with them until they left again.

Though he was born at the Blue Parrot about 15 years ago, Silver lived his life where and with whom he chose.  After some years with Rick, the original owner of the Blue Parrot, he lived with Marshall, who has since passed away, who paid for many of his early medical bills.

Silver was a true free spirit who loved air conditioning, but hated taxis and balloons; he wouldn’t visit the Tequila Barrel when it was decorated.  He defended himself many times against aggressive dogs and was very protective of his human.  One day they were on the beach and three Rottweilers attacked Silver all at once.  Arnold managed to grab a collar and, fully clothed with shoes on, dragged one of the dogs into the water to get him off Silver.

Silver didn’t like the water and that day was only the second time Arnold had ever seen him swim.  As he struggled with the dog whose collar he held, he looked up.  Silver had disposed of the other two dogs and was coming to rescue him!

Silver communicated very well, although he had his vocal cords severed as a youngster because his barking bothered guests at the Blue Parrot.  When his human did something he didn’t like, he would show his teeth in a silent snarl, something that Arnold says happened often while they were together.

When asked if he had a “best” memory of Silver, this was the story Arnold told.  One day Arnold fell into the swimming pool at Pancho’s and broke his hip.  Due to the severity of the break, he had to go to Merida and have physiotherapy for six months.  He had no one with whom to leave Silver and so the dog took to the streets and his regular patrons, taking care of himself as he so often did.

The day came when Arnold was back in Playa, healed and walking around looking for him.  When they finally spotted each other, Silver rushed to him, excited and happy, making crying sounds like a small child.  Arnold treasures this memory of Silver’s love for him. Arnold has another special memory and it’s the one that spelled the beginning of the end of being Silver’s human.  His current dog Taz was about a year old, so this was over three years ago.

Arnold was watching TV and playing with Taz, who was still very much a puppy.  Silver was quietly lying on the other side of the room, watching them.  Suddenly, Arnold felt Silver’s gaze and looked up, to see a very strange look in his eyes.  Arnold got the distinct feeling that Silver was saying “Enough is enough!”  He said it was almost like a marriage, when the spouse is finally fed up with, in this case, “the other dog”.

Soon afterwards, Silver visited Ellen and Soraya at their apartment upstairs from the Tequila Barrel and never returned home to Arnold.  When they both moved to new digs a year later, Silver stayed with Ellen.

For at least six months after they broke up, Silver shunned Arnold and would cross the street to avoid him.  Later on, Arnold awoke at 4 a.m. to Silver’s soft distinctive “woof … woof”.  He let him in and gave him some food and they went back to being friends, although Silver lived with Ellen until he died.

Ellen doesn’t find it easy to talk about Silver, because she is still so sad that he is gone.  He was her constant companion for the last three years and it’s clear she misses him very much.  She says he was well-behaved and never chewed or broke anything.  He was afraid of loud noises and hated rain and thunder.  He was very protective of Ellen and caught a burglar by the leg when he entered through a window one night.  The burglar left in shock and pain, never to return.

Ellen remembers Silver’s beautiful brown eyes that sometimes seemed to glow and says, “He was the best dog ever”.  She was with him at the end, when he was to sick to walk, sitting in a garden hand feeding him all the ham and chicken he wanted, when Paco the vet gave him a final injection.  Silver slipped away to dog heaven and Ellen said: “I was the lucky one, to be his last station”.