About Myself

My name is Typhoon Merlin Bivens and I was born on October 8, 1990. As you can see from the picture, I am a pure bred Bouvier-des-Flanders registered with the Canadian Kennel Club.

I love my family and I know they must love me because I do have some hang-ups that Pam Green has been able to point out. My parents, Rock and Liz are very good to me. They take me out for a walk 2-3 times a day and usually they will let me decide on which area to go walk in. Most of the time, I enjoy walking through the woods because they let me run free to explore and get my fill of 'sniffs'. But sometimes I enjoy walking through the subdivision even if I have to stay on the leash. Rock and Liz are great at picking up on my 'vibs' and know just what I'm trying to say but Uri and Rena still have their doubts that I can communicate. They don't want to believe that I can tell them things but if I'm persistent they will do what I want.

The Best Games

My favorite toy is my pillow. It comes in handy for many things. I need it when I'm sleeping at night, of course. What dog doesn't use a pillow for his head? When I feel like playing fetch, I deposit the pillow on someone's lap and they always fling it away. It's even good to throw around all by myself. The best thing about my pillow is that I can shake it and growl very ferociously to vent my frustrations. Uri and Rena are good subjects to chase. When I shake my pillow and threaten them, they start running and shrieking through the house. This is a lot of fun although sometimes I feel like dropping the pillow and just shaking them instead. They don't seem to like that. But, hey - I'm a dog! If they don't fall for the pillow game, I can always get them running through the house by chasing me when I've stolen an article of their clothing from the floor of their room. They chase me harder and longer if the clothing is their best sweater!

I also love squeak toys. But someone has to invent a squeaker that holds up to a Typhoon! Winter is the greatest fun. I can finally go for a walk without getting too hot. This is also the time that I can practice my writing skills. I have now mastered my  signature. Of course, other doggies don't read, this is just for the benefit of those humans. Then a refreshing swim in the lake will nicely top off a great walk. My parents will throw lots of snowballs for me to chase and catch. But if I miss the snowball, those dumb people make me so mad when they laugh and make fun of me for missing. This just compels me to pull trees out by their roots.....just to piss them off. The best day is when I've been able to play all my games, have a nice long walk and then top it off with some cheese and a hot sauna. That's right - I like to catch some steam in the sauna before going to bed.

When I Grow Up

I haven't decided yet what I want to be when I grow up. I might be a singer. I love to join in and sing when the Crash Test Dummies are on the radio. I also like opera, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton. But whenever the urge comes, I'll sing along with anyone just to practice. If you want to hear me, just press here.

I might want to be a Fireman. I'm always practicing by dousing trees, cars, fire-hydrants, mailboxes, etc. I hear that firemen often have mascots and I can even tell them I can help!

I might be a police dog. I'm really good at finding people and stopping them in their tracks. I'm big, fast, and ferocious and I like donuts!

I might like to just be a simple Farmer. I'm good at herding sheep and cattle and I love the out-doors.

October 20, 2002 - Well, time has gone on and now I'm getting very old. You can tell I'm old because I was born in 1990 and I'm a very large dog. I weigh in at 130 pounds and you can see my size in the pictures. According to the doctor's age calculation and my being a large dog, I am now about 120 years old in human years. As a result, I have to admit my arthritis is very bothersome. I just can't get my legs under me sometimes in order to stand up. Those linoleum floors are really killers for me. But my mommy always runs to my rescue and helps to lift me up. When I'm on my walks, I fall sometimes. I hate it when that happens, but the vet says that the signals for my legs aren't always getting through. I don't have the energy to run much or play, but my mind is still intact and I love all the conversations I have with my family. 

I guess when you look back at my life and all the aspirations I had, I would have to say that I became a singer! The local radio station came out to my house once and played one of my favourite songs so I could sing along on the radio! Then my daddy and his friend started up a group called 'TubaBoy' and they let me sing along while they practice. They even recorded one of my songs and put it on their first CD, naming it after me! I was very honoured! If you want to buy a copy for yourself, you can see which other songs by TubaBoy are on it. The CD is only $10 CND. 

My mom has done something very special with my fur! She brushes me and my sister, Piper. Then she saves our fur and spins it with her spinning wheel! She knits really nice sweaters and hats and mittens with my fur! She even weaves fleece rugs with it! 

August 6, 2003 - Typhoon Merlin Bivens passed away at 1:40 p.m. surrounded and held by his parents Rock and Liz, and laying in his favourite spot under a tree, in the shade, looking out at the lake. A trumpeter swan swam by with his regrets. Typhoon is finally free of the pain from his arthritis and doesn't have to trip and fall because his back legs would not work anymore.

Typhoon had a wonderful life with his family. He always loved Christmas. Typhoon's favourite thing was to open his own presents and help everyone else open theirs!

Typhoon loved climbing hills and exploring.

Although he was able to pull off being ferocious to guard all his family members, he was also a sweet tender loving dog. In his later years all the neighbours called him the 'Gentle Giant'.

If he found a bed that hadn't been made up in the morning, he always took advantage of it!

Typhoon loved swimming. He also loved chasing Uri off the dock when they were both younger. He would jump right in the water after Uri. Typhoon would swim across the lake with us and when he got tired he'd swim up to us and have us hold him while he rested. Mom would often use some floatation noodles to hold herself afloat while Typhoon just laid in her arms. They would float for hours enjoying the warm summer days in the cool water.

Typhoon's most favourite times were in the winter. He loved playing games with snowballs. He loved laying on his back and rolling to and fro, he loved eating gallons of snow and he loved just sitting out in the snow with his nose in the wind, basking with the freezing temperatures.

This is one of the latest pictures of Typhoon, taken in July, 2003. He is laying right in front of his burial spot. There's many stories to tell about Typhoon....he loved us all and we all loved him. He knew how to communicate and he even laughed with us when we told funny stories. He loved singing and listening to TubaBoy practice. He was in seventh heaven when the kids would come home for the holidays and we'd all go for a walk together.  Luckily, we took a family photo with all of us last Thanksgiving!

We love you Typhoon! You will always be in our hearts. We will light a candle to remember you! There could never be another dog as wonderful, as loving, as caring and as beautiful as YOU!

Here are some of our memories of the great things Typhoon did in his 13 years with us!

1. When he was small he'd run like a maniac through the house and we'd all climb up onto the furniture and yell - There's a Typhoon in the house - and that just spurred him on.
2. When he was younger, he'd sit on the couch with his butt and have his front legs on the floor.
3. Whenever Mom was cooking, Typhoon had to lie in front of the oven, especially if the oven was on.
4. He loved to chase Uri up the spiral staircase and into Uri's room
5. He played hide and seek, although it was hard to hide from him in the house.
6. We played hide and seek out on our walks. Since he had a herding intuition, we would jump at the chance to hide when he wasn't looking and he'd run all over till he found us.
7. He loved to pounce into the bushes when we threw stones in them.
8. He would listen to the snow banks and hear mice tunnelling though and then he'd pounce into the snow and pull out the mouse.
9. When I was upstairs working and Dad was downstairs watching TV, he would sleep at the top of the stairs watching Dad but waiting for me to go down. He loved us both so much he wouldn't stay with just one of us, he had to stay in between.
10. He would lie at the part of the top of the staircase near the railing where he could see downstairs and his paws would hang down through the railing and he'd rest his nose on the lowest rung of the railing.
11. He was so afraid of silly things, like a plastic bag being blown by the wind, or just something different outside that he hadn't seen before, like a new garbage can or something like that.
12. After drinking, he'd shake his head and all his slobber would fly and land on us or the walls.
13. When he was younger and we all went for a walk together, Typhoon would make sure he herded us together so no one got too far ahead. He would go up front and block the path until the rest of us caught up.
14. He loved to run through the bushes and would just plow down a tree if it was in his way.
15. Sometimes when he was fooling around, he'd chomp down a tree.
16. He loved to chase all the geese off our lawn.
17. He loved to swim. He'd follow us across the lake.
18. He loved to just float around in the lake with Mommy while she balanced herself on foam noodles.
19. He was stubborn and wanted his way. If we went for a walk, he'd decide which way we should go. If we didn't go his way, he'd turn into a 'wall' and then we'd have to give a good argument to make him change his direction.
20. When he was older, he'd hide on us during our walks. He had become so slow that we would be way up ahead and so he'd hide behind a tree and when I looked for him I'd see him behind that tree. I'd say - I see you Typhoon- and he'd lift up his head and walk out.
21. Typhoon would pull rocks out of the lake.
22. Typhoon would swim in any lake as soon as he saw it.
23. Typhoon loved the winters. He would bask in the cold winds.
24. He loved to snow plow snow into his mouth.
25. He loved playing snow games and when we'd just call out the name of our game, he'd position himself for that game and he always remembered those names each winter. They were - bowling, fly ball, cujo, and goalie.
26. He adored and cherished Sheba. He thought she was his mother and would always follow her lead. He was very angry at me when I took her away to put her to sleep.
27. While Sheba was in her last stages of life, Typhoon protected her from Piper who was a pup. He made sure Piper didn't go near her and that she didn't eat Sheba's food. Near her end, Sheba wasn't eating any more, but Typhoon wouldn't let anyone touch her food just in case she got hungry.
28. When we brought Piper home, he accepted her right away, even though he would try to fight other dogs.
29. Typhoon always treated Piper like a lady and would always let her go first or have her way.
30. Typhoon loved stealing the kids favourite clothes to make them chase him around our kitchen island.
31. Once he didn't want me to leave on a trip so he swallowed a sock! I had to call the vet who then kept calling our kids while we were on our trip to help them keep a watchful eye on his condition. Later I found that sock vomited up in the basement.
32. He loved to sing. Some of his favourite singers on the radio were... Alanis Morrissettte, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Crash Test Dummies (especially Brad Robert's voice), Tom Cockrane, opera singers and his favourite singer was his Dad, Rocky and also his band called TubaBoy!
33. He sang live on Q92. All of Sudbury heard him.
34. Typhoon used to get scared when Rock would put Rena on his shoulders and walk out of the lake.
35. He loved running and jumping off the dock to chase Uri.
36. When he wanted to go for a walk, and Mom would just type on her computer, he would go in her room and grab her hand in his mouth and pull her out of the room...the computer chair on wheels would just roll along.
37. He loved chasing us all around the island in the kitchen and if he caught you he'd grab your hand and take you somewhere.
38. Sometimes he just wanted Mom to sit or lay down with him, so he'd take my hand and bring my into the living room or bedroom and I would have to pet him.
39. Once he forced Mom to stay on the bed and not go to the bathroom because she wouldn't take him for his walk.
40. When he was little, he would protect Dad by not letting Mom get into bed.
41. When Dad got sick, Typhoon got sick.
42. He loved to watch Rena play soccer.
43. Typhoon would break any ball as soon as he got it in his mouth.
44. He loved to go to McDonald's for his birthday to get a hamburger.
45. He loved tearing the wrapping paper off presents.
46. Typhoon loved little squeak toys and would play with them until he ended up breaking the squeaker.
47. He listened to us talk to him and he'd turn his head from side to side while he listened.
48. If I recounted a funny thing he had done, and we all laughed at him, he'd sort of laugh too with his body language and then he'd try to grab me and take me somewhere.
49. Typhoon loved cheese and would always know when Dad took cheese out of the fridge.
50. Typhoon would stand up against the living room window to look out and Rena would stand by him with her arm around his shoulders.
51. If a bed wasn't made up, he jumped in onto the sheets as soon as he could. But he loved sleeping on Mom and Dad's bed during the day...especially on the pillows.
52. Typhoon loved his pillows. He used them as toys, as a head rest and as a tool to beat up the kids. Typhoon was buried with his head on his pillow.
53. When he chased the kids, he almost always stuffed his mouth with a huge ball or pillow so he wouldn't accidentally bite or hurt the kids.
54. Typhoon loved to go for car rides.
55. He loved staying in hotels and he'd look into every room and corner.
56. When strangers came up to us on a walk, he'd always stand in between to protect us
57. Typhoon hated bath time, but once I got him in the shower room, he'd let me wash him. Near his last days, he fell into the dirty creek and when I got him home, he didn't put up a fight to get in the shower room for a bath.
58. After his baths, he would run through the house like a Typhoon
59. In the winter on our walks, he would love to steal Mom's mittens and run home with them or throw them into the snow banks.
60. He would chomp down trees and carry them home
61. His favourite trick on walks was to come sneaking up behind Mom and then quickly punch her in the butt and laugh.
62. If he liked you, he'd bury his forehead in your legs and let you scratch his ears and neck.
63. Every winter, his favourite thing to do was to roll on his back in freshly fallen snow.
64. While on a walk, if he wanted to play, he would grab Mom's hand while she was walking.
65. He loved to lick our chins.
66. He loved to have fresh water coming out of the tap when he drank. If the tap wasn't running, he would stand in the doorway asking for his fresh water and wouldn't quit until you got up to turn it on.
67. Typhoon loved to sit on the top bench in the sauna and he wouldn't leave. We would have to find a way to trick him to leave so he wouldn't over heat.
68. Typhoon loved to chase Cricket. But at the same time, he'd lick Cricket's ears.
69. If someone was angry and yelling, Typhoon would hide somewhere.
70. He could see the top of the kitchen table and if he liked something that was there, he's stare at it. If we ignored him, he'd lay his head down onto the table corner and look cute so you couldn't resist him.
71. He would lay under the table at dinner time or when visitors came.
72. Whenever Mom was cooking, he had to lie in front of the stove, especially if the oven was on! Mom had to reach over him or walk around him in the kitchen.
73. He never took something off the table. He'd wait for it to fall off and if he had to, he might encourage something to fall off.
74. His dentabones were his favourite treat but he never took one on his own from the bucket on the floor.
75. When Richard came to practice, Typhoon loved to get a dentabone from him and would wait for it.
76. When he needed to get medicine in the morning and if Mom forgot to give it, he would remind her or Dad to make sure he got his medication.
77. We always had to save our pizza crusts for him as it was his favourite food. He also loved lasagne and bread and especially pulla
78. I would always tell him the kids were coming home and he'd perk up right away and start looking for them. Once they got home, he was so happy and would lick their faces.
79. On our walks, if he smelled some wild animal, he would start barking as if to say - Get out of here before I have to eat you, my family is with me and I'll protect them.
80. He was terribly flatulent, especially in his older years...
81. Typhoon loved having the dock in the lake and as soon as it was installed each summer, he had to be the first to walk on it.
82. Typhoon always slept on Dad's side of the bed, but during the night he'd move either to the closet - where he would make sure his butt was over the cold/hot air register - or - by the side window over the air register with his face right on top of it.
83. He would follow us from room to room.
84. Once his arthritis started up, we put an old futon mattress on the family room floor just so he'd have a comfortable place to lie.
85. If he was hot, he'd find the darkest spot in the basement and lie down there.
86. When he was outside and I was trying to get him in and he didn't want to come in, I'd have to say something like - You better come in or when the postman comes you are going to want to eat him.
87. Once he was in a howling mood, you could always get him to say 'Aurora'.
88. If cars were coming, in his younger days he would go into the ditch or the side of the road, but in his later years he'd just turn and face them and stand in the middle of the road as if saying - Who do you think you are coming down this road?
89. He felt he was the king of our back hiking roads and if any other dog went walking there, it had to be approved by Tiny first
90. His first meeting with Max (Buchanan's dog)  was a fight, but after that, they became the best of buddies and would always have to say hello to each other when they were out together.
91. When Piper would lay in the hallway, there was no way Typhoon would try to go past her no matter how much he wanted to be on the other side
92. In his later years, when I asked him for a hug, he would wait for me to hug him and then he'd press his head into me to hug back.
93. After I clipped their fur off in the spring, he would look at Piper and immediately fall in love. His head would go straight up, his eyes would open wide and he'd advance to her and try to mount her, even though both of them were neutered early in their lives.
94. If his ear was itchy, he'd always go to Dad because he knew Dad was the only one who could scratch his ears right.
95. Typhoon always loved to sleep by Dad's feet.
96. He grew so fast and big when he was a pup, we said it was because we fed him the puppy growth formula too long. We always bought him the most expensive food.
97. When on walks, Typhoon would not poop on the trails, he always went off into the bush or tall grasses.
98. If there was especially putrid smelling poop that some animal left behind, Typhoon would have to roll in it and then I'd get angry and have to wash him.
99. Now here's an additional section of memories from Rena that she wanted to add....

100. Maybe on #64 about loving to lick chins, you could add that I don’t ever remember him pulling away first from a good chin licking. Usually Dad would hold my head in place against my will so that Tiny could lick as long as he wanted to

101. Also, whenever I came home from university, it seemed like my bed was the new place to sleep during the day, as opposed to Mom and Dad’s bed.

102. He also used to love hearing me say ‘good night, see you in the morning, blah blah blah’. He would lie down or stand up patiently while I whispered it in his ear and gave him a big kiss, the whole time inches away from his pillow. As soon as I would finish he would grab his pillow and run after me as I ran to my bedroom.

103. He also used to love being tickled. Once you started, he tried his best to get you to continue as long as possible. He would paw at you or in the air to indicate that he was not finished being tickled or rubbed.

104. He also liked it when Daddy scratched his ears for him and then let him smell his fingers, even though I thought it was kinda gross.

105. Also, whenever he finished drinking out of the shower room, he would always have to wipe his chin along the couches…if you were in the way, sometimes you would have to move your legs so you wouldn’t get wet along with the couch.

106. He also used to be a business man. I think Uri invented that one…We would comb his hair back off his face when it was wet and tell him he had a Business Man look

107. When he used to love chasing Cricket around, you could always make a ‘kkssstt’ sound and he would start hunting down the cat.

108. He also loved rolling on the ground…especially in the snow I think…to give himself a good back scratching. He loved it so much that even when his arthritis was getting painful he would still do it.

109. He used to love running around in the backyard with us. Sometimes we could just stand around in a big circle and he would run around to each of us, sometimes we would be playing Frisbee at the same time. And he often liked flipping around and hitting you with his back end.

110. I often used him as a pillow…I think he liked it just as much as I did.

111. It took a little while for us to get them to do this, but once they started they could play for a while…tug of war, that is. Piper on one end and Tiny on the other.

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03/19/2008