How our last dog watched over my husband after his diagnosis
Written by Jamie Askari | Feb. 18, 2025
Growing up, we always had a dog in our family. My mom was particularly fond of schnauzer breeds, so I always had a gray-haired, old-man-looking dog to walk, feed, and keep me company. One dog, Charlie Brown, came into our family a few years before I was born, so we grew up together. After he passed over the rainbow bridge to doggy heaven, I was devastated, as I’d never known life without dear Charlie.
Fast forward to my life as a mom of three young children. My daughters had been begging and pleading for a pet for years, and the closest they’d gotten was when I announced I was pregnant with their brother. While they were excited about baby Jake, they continued in their pursuit of a pet.
By the time Jake was 2 years old, my husband, Arman, and I finally relented. We found a darling Cavalier King Charles spaniel and poodle mix that was being sold by a breeder only a few hours away. Not only was he the runt of the litter, but he was the only dog left that hadn’t been adopted. Although Arman also grew up with dogs, he’s not an animal lover by any means. When he saw the picture of the dog online, he simply said, “That’s our dog.”
When the time came to pick up our puppy, we piled into our large SUV and drove three hours to a farm in southwestern Ohio. As soon as the dog saw us, he jumped into our car and never looked back at that farm; he somehow knew that we were his family now. The girls named him Duke, after a character in a movie they loved. We referred to Duke as a small dog with a big name.
Duke was with our family as our kids became school-age, teenagers, and eventually young adults. He was beside me as we watched the school bus pull away every morning. He stood patiently by the door while I waited for the kids to return home by bus in the afternoon. He was just as excited as I was to hear about their day, and, of course, he loved the crumbs and scraps from their snacks.
Enter Parkinson’s
After Arman was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease in 2009, Duke seemed to look at him differently. I’m convinced that he knew Arman was struggling with something, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. He would stare at Arman, his eyes blue and glassy with cataracts at the end, and you could just tell that Duke was feeling my husband’s pain.
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