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I wrote down a bunch of random thoughts so I would always be able to remember the little things that made Ellis so special to me and my life.

Though his name was Ellis, and most people called him Ellis, there were several variations and other names that he was often referred to as, mainly by Ellen and I:
o Brown
o The Brown
o The Brown Man
o Chocolate
o The Chocolate Man
o The Chocolate Brown Wonder Man
o The Brown Meesta
o Meesta Chock-o-lat-a
o Shock-o-la-tier
o The Chock
o Chocko
o The Brown Bear
o Ellis McFully & Completely
o Ellis Mcafferty

When is Ellis' birthday anyway?
We have celebrated Ellis' birthday on July 21st for as long as I remember. Needless to say I was shocked when, after he passed away I was organizing all of his things and found that on his official Canadian Club Birth Certificate his birthday was listed as July 20th, 1991.

Running with Ellis
I was very adamant about Ellis being well trained for many reasons. One thing I insisted - when we were walking he would always have to sit before I said "ok" and then we could cross the street. He was amazing at sitting at every crossing - he ended up getting so used to it, he would do it on his own. He was almost always on leash. One time two of my friends wanted to go running and asked if they could take Ellis. They left the house and had him off leash and were running down the sidewalks chatting with each other. They were over a block away when they noticed that Ellis wasn't running between them anymore. They looked over their shoulder and there he was over a block away, sitting at the curb, waiting to be told that it was ok to cross the street. He was such a good boy.

What does ECK5Z mean?
From the day I got Ellis, ECK5Z was burned into my brain. It is the tattoo that was in his right ear designating him as a purebred.

Don't steal my dog
When Ellis was a very young pup and I was living in Kingston, I walked from campus to the bank. I tied Ellis to a parking meter just outside the bank and stepped inside for just a few minutes to use the ATM. When I came out, this older bum/homeless looking type of guy was untying Ellis' leash from the pole. I was shocked and said, "hey, what are you doing?" He responded that Ellis' leash had come untied and he was tieing it back up. If I had been just a few minutes longer he may have stolen my little brown puppy.

Ellis' REAL Name
I decided to call him Ellis Mcafferty Powick. I was shocked when I finally received his official Canada Kennel Club certificate and it said Ellis Mcaffeuly Powick. I guess my writing on the application form was that illegible. A few of us sometimes called him Ellis McFully and Completely after the Tragically Hip album "Fully & Completely"

Ellis Doesn't Eat
Through Ellis' entire life, he loved meal time. He would eat SO fast, it was incredible. I would have the boys sit and stay while I put their food down, then say "ok" and they would devour it in seconds.
One time I headed to Stowe Vermont to visit a few friends (who had never met Ellis before). I arrived and a few of us instantly headed out, while Melanie stayed at her place with Ellis. I quickly told her to feed him around dinner time, and we'd be back later. Well we arrive back at about midnight and Melanie mentioned that Ellis wouldn't eat. Wouldn't eat? that's unheard of. She said she put some food in his bowl, and then the whole tub of food down for him - but he wouldn't eat, he just sat there and stared at it. I asked her if she said "ok". "YOU never told me I had to say ok". Poor Ellis sat and stared at the food for a few hours, then just got tired of it, walked away and went to sleep without any dinner that night.

Ellis and Barking
I can honestly count on one hand the number of times that Ellis barked. I think the first time was when I lived in Fernie - I let him out, it was right around Christmas. The neighbours had one of those plastic reindeers with a lightbulb inside. Ellis walked outside, saw it, and let out a big ruff. He absolutely scared himself to death, turned around and came right back inside - it was hilarious. The same exact thing happened years later when living in Salt Lake City - he saw the neighbours plastic Christmas snowman or something, and once again let out one deep solid sounding bark, and once again, scared himself. There were a few other barks out of Ellis over the years, but very very few. In general he was the quietest best behaved dog I've ever known.

Sleeping on the Bed
The boys were not allowed on the bed. Then one day Ellen and I discussed it and thought it would be fun if they slept up with us. We knew that once we allowed it once, it would never end...For the next ten years there were often four of us in a Queen size bed. The sleeping wasn't great, but it sure was cozy.

"How are the boys?"
The first thing either of us would say when we called home.

Puppy Sitting Ellis & Yukon
For the boys' entire lives, they never once needed to be put in a kennel. They were such great dogs, and we had such great friends, we literally had a list of people that would take care of the boys if we were going on a trip somewhere. Usually the puppy-sitters would stay in our house so it was easier on the boys. I absolutely love the fact that the boys never needed to be put in a kennel.

No Dogs on the Couch
The boys weren't allowed on the couch or on the futon and they had free roam of the house while we were at work. On the odd occasion I would come home, and I believe as Ellis got older he started to lose his hearing, because I would walk in and see him juuuust crawling off of the couch or futon. It was SO funny and I could never give him trouble.

You could do anything to Ellis
Ellis would let you do anything to him - from cutting his nails, brushing, cleaning his ears, and even letting little kids dress him up in dresses and hats. He was so gentle and understanding - it was unbelievable.

Is that a Seal?
Ellis always amazed people at his swimming and especially diving skills. Once he took to the water, and I taught him how to dive, he was unstoppable. I've thrown rocks and had him down to the bottom of a 10ft swimming pool. I've had him diving deep in really dark water before, and down for so long, that I've started to jump in after him. If he ever came up without a rock, he would be very disappointed like he failed in his mission - he would take a few breaths and head back under. If the water was the right depth he would dive down and his front paws would be on the bottom while his back legs and bum were sticking out of the water kicking around as he grabbed a rock in his worn teeth. I once had this young boy ask if Ellis was part dog and part seal. Ellis would dive for rocks in any depth, in any temperatures - on more than one occasion he would go in, get a rock, come out, then lay and roll on the grass pawing at his head, and making little moaning noises - "ice cream head ache" - but then he would go right back in.
Ellis would dive deep at any opportunity up until he was 12 years old or so... then he slowly started just going up to his belly, but still constantly trying to rid the river of any rocks on the bottom. It was his mission.

Thoughts & Memories of Ellis
Ellis always made me laugh when, or Ellis made me smile when..., or I love the way Ellis used to..., or I will miss Ellis when...:

I will miss trying to comfort Ellis during thunder storms.
I will really miss giving Ellis his "stretches"
I used to love the way that Ellis was so serious about getting rocks out of the river. I think he looked at like his job, or mission in life.
I will miss never cease to be amazed with how much Ellis loved swimming.
I loved when Ellis would use Yuke as a pillow and when Yuke would use Ellis as a pillow too.
I will miss asking Ellis to shake a paw, then say "the other one" and he would shake it. He was great at shaking a paw.
The favorite part of my weekends was getting up from a chilly sleep in the van in the middle of winter in Southern Utah - and hanging out outside, drinking my hot chocolate and Bailey's while playing with the boys, and throwing sticks for hours. I will really miss that.
I will miss when I would go to sleep with Ellis right beside me.
Though it sounds gross, I will really miss the smell of Ellis' feet. I would be sleeping with him beside me and his feet would be in my face. I really will miss the smell of his feet in my face.
I used to love the way that Ellis would eat so very very fast. When he was a puppy, food would fly everywhere. As he got older he slowed down, but jut a bit. He would still eat at record speed.
It made me laugh when we would give Ellis and Yukon Kong's with treats inside - and Yukon could get his treat out in seconds, whereas Ellis would work ALL day and still not get it out. We would come home from work and get it out and hand it to him, or if during the day he left the treat's side, Yukon would gobble it up.
It would always crack me up when Ellis would eat all his food AROUND his Glucosamine table and leave it - then Yuki would promptly stroll up and lap it up with one lick.
I would laugh when we were out camping, just hanging by a fire, then we wouldn't be able to see ellis - he would be over at the tent or the van - staring at the door, telling us it was bedtime for him.
I will really miss Ellis playing in the snow - he LOVED playing in the snow.
I'm really going to miss laying on the living room floor and petting Ellis' soft head.
I’ll really miss the click click click of his long nails on the hard floors.
I'll miss watching Ellis & Yuke together - they truly were best friends.
As Ellis got older it was too difficult for him to jump into the bed. I will really miss laying with him on the floor before bed, and being able to reach down and pet his head while I laid in bed.
I'll miss bringing Ellis to work and taking him at swimming at lunch.
For a dog that LOVED the water more than anything, it always cracked me up how much Ellis absolutely HATED getting a bath - EVEN when I washed him IN a river.
It used to crack me up when there were too many people around, Ellis would just go to his bed and go to sleep - he was never as social as Yukon.
I'll miss being with the boys at the cliffs, and having everyone know them, but not really know us.
I will really miss Ellis being the first thing I saw every time I got home from work.
I used to love rubbing Ellis' soft ears, soft head, and wonderful brown nose.
I will miss trimming his nails – he was so good at letting you do anything to him.
Ellis and Yuki both had amazing eyebrow control - they would show so much emotion through their eyebrows - it always made me laugh.
As Ellis got older he needed more and more help around the house, in the van and on the trails. I will really miss giving him boosts and lifting him up and down the stairs and in and out of the van. I loved helping him.
I'll miss walking Ellis on a leash. He (& Yuke) were amazing at walking on the leash.
I’ll miss having to shovel a path in the snow from the back of our house to the front so Ellis could walk around.
I will really miss taking pictures of Ellis - he was always such a good model.
I will really miss watching Ellis open presents. He was absolutely amazing.
I'll miss throwing rocks for hours and hours and watching him NEVER get tired of getting rocks out of the river.
I will really miss how much the boys loved Ellen, and how much she loved them.
I will deeply miss my best friend.