Archie (Arcanine) Anthony Markel
Nicknames: Chee, Chee Chee, Baby Chee, Tee, Tee Tee, Baby Tee, Archie-Bald (Archibald), the old man, + many more
Archie, October 23, 2010 – December 27, 2023 (13 years old). He was a brown standard poodle, although everyone thought he was a doodle, I was proud to correct them and say that he was a standard poodle. Archie came into our lives in Christmas 2010 when I was just 9 years old. He was a Christmas present to my brother Cam and I from our mom. Our parents had just gotten divorced and our houses were now divided. Archie was just what we needed to make Mom’s new house feel like home. Archie was adopted from Rozey K-9 Farm in West Michigan from a litter of puppies. We knew we wanted a large boy, and that’s what they got with Archie. He was such a big boy! I remember watching the videos they would send us of all the puppies on the computer, and we would excitedly point out Archie and just get so excited for when we would be able to bring him home. I remember the day I first met Archie, Cam and Mom had gotten him and picked me up at Dad’s house on the way back home. I loved him so much, I remember holding him and cuddling him in the back seat the whole way home, he was so small then. Archie’s original from Rozey’s K-9 farm name was Rerun from Charlie Brown. Cam and I renamed him after our favorite Pokemon Arcanine, and decided to call him Archie for short. We were very young at the time and super into Pokemon. I remember we were one of the last people to pick up our puppy from the litter but Archie made it home in time for Christmas.
Archie always loved Christmas. He loves the snow, he loved opening Christmas presents, and he loves spending time with the family. As a puppy around Christmas time, Archie was first introduced to snow. He loved the snow and he loved playing in the snow with Cam and I. We both have fond memories of taking little Archie on his first walks in the snow. He was so small at the time he could be completely covered by the snow, so we made sure to carry him like a little baby when his feet got cold on the walks or he got tired. For years to come, Archie would be so excited every year when the snow came. He loved to play in the snow with us, having snowball fights and making snowmen.
Archie also loved opening Christmas presents, he would always help us tear open the presents and he loved playing with the wrapping paper that was strewn around the house. One of my favorite parts of Christmas was Archie helping us to open the presents. We were so lucky this year that 13 years later, we were able to have a last Christmas together. Archie helped Lucas and I open up our presents under the tree. Although he couldn’t run around anymore and tear open presents, he made an effort to be a part of it and help sniff out what was inside our presents.
Growing up, Archie was one of the kids, like a sibling to us. We played tag, hide-and-seek, wrestled, football, he did gymanstics with me, we watched tv together, slept together at night, went on walks together, went camping together, we did everything together. Archie was our companion, our emotional support dog. He was there when we were happy and comforted us when we were sad. He gave the best hugs. Archie loved family so much, we all meant the world to him whether you were Cam and Ella or a distant relative like a grandpa or aunt, he even loved all his dog cousins! It means the world to me that Archie got to spend time so much time with his family the past month. He spent Thanksgiving with all of the Markel’s and spent Christmas with us and the Prawdzik’s. His last few days were hanging out with his best dog buddies, I’m glad he got to spend some of his last moments with them. They always brightened his day and he loved playing with them. It was truly a Christmas miracle to be able to have him with us one last time.
In Archie’s 13 years, he was very smart. He was very aware of everything that was happening around him (his mind was very sharp all the way until the end) and he knew lots of words (I always thought that if he had a voice box he’d definitely be able to talk and speak English). Archie could even do a few tricks too! Archie obviously knew how to sit and lay down. One of the first tricks I taught him was how to shake. He was just a small little puppy when I taught him how to put his paw in mine and shake. Throughout his lifetime we shook hands and introduced ourselves “Hi Archie, I’m Ella, what’s your name? Oh hi Archie nice to meet you!” I have so many memories of this same interaction throughout his whole life whether he was a baby puppy or an old man. One of the funniest tricks he could do was “no bark!”, Archie was notorious for never barking. It was rare that he barked and it was usually when we were playing with him and he was having so much fun he just couldn’t contain it! His best trick was definitely “no bark”, he always did it perfectly! Other favorite words Archie knew was Car, Treat, Walk, and Ella. Archie loved going on car rides whether it be to the dog park, petsmart, or to see family. He loved getting in the car and the excitement of going somewhere. Archie loved his treats, he loved pupcorn and rawhides and always made sure to sit and shake for them. Even when he got old he attempted to sit and shake for them, even when his body wasn’t able to do that anymore. Archie loved walks, he loved going outside and sniffing everything! I always allowed him to sniff whatever he wanted for however long he wanted. I wanted him to be able to do the things he enjoyed. During Covid, Archie and I would go on walks 2-3 times a day. Me, Archie, and Midnight would go on the trail in the neighbor and just have a great time. It was so nice to be able to go outside and relax. That’s what Archie and I’s covid lockdown time consisted of, and we enjoyed spending it together. Archie’s favorite word of all was Ella, he loved me so much. We were each others person, we were each others everything. He wanted to be with me at all times and I with him. Although I had school and work and whatever else in my life, I always tried to spend as much time with him as I could, making sure he got extra love and hugs at the end of the night so he knew he was loved. His favorite spots to be rubbed was his legs and his old man spot, although he loved pets all over. When he is little I remember rubbing up and down his legs was the only way for him to go to sleep at night, besides that he was restless and too excited to go to bed. During his last moments, I rubbed all up and down his legs, making sure he was calm and comfortable and reminiscing on all the times I had comforted him in this way. His old man spot, the only white hair on his body that was on his chest, also got lots of attention. As a puppy his dark chocolate colored hair majorly contrasted with his white old man spot. He loved getting pets there too.
Archie had a spectacular life, he did so many things in his lifetime and I am so happy to have been able to help him have such a great life. Archie travelled… In his younger years, he would travel to Chicago a lot. More recently, we took him to Mackinac Island to stay at Mission Point Resort for his “retirement trip.” He loved exploring the island and walking around everywhere and getting so much love and attention from strangers. He loved just being with us. Archie came on a lot of camping trips, he loved to camp. He loved just being outside and enjoying everything. (Everywhere we lived, we would regularly catch outside sitting outside in the backyard just gazing into the distance, contemplating life. It made me happy to know he was feeling intent and happy to be alive, taking it all in). Lucas and I were able to take him on a lot of camping trips this year, he got to go to the dunes with us and camping with the Prawdziks too. At one point Archie even made it to the big stage, being casted in my show with the Dexter Drama Club. Archie and Cam had their stage debutes together in my show Game of Tiaras.
This March, we had a scare with Archie where we thought we were going to lose him. In the end, he was okay and we were so lucky to have so much more time with him in between now and then. We went on lots of camping trips, saw lots of family, and gave him lots of love. He briefly lived at Lucas’s family house while Lucas and I were preparing to take him at our house from living at moms. He loved living at the Prawdzik household, there was a family member there at all times to give him love and he had such wonderful dog cousin he to keep him company. Archie became a puppy again living there, he got a big yard to explore and friends to spend time and play with. They all loved Archie and he loved all of them too.
As a kid, I always told Archie that someday him and I would live together, me and him. This year, just that happened and I was so happy that was able to come true. We did so much together. Lucas and I poured so much of our love and hearts out for Archie and we took the best care of him as we could and I know Archie appreciated it so much which is why the end hurt so much harder. Lucas and I had been taking care of Archie at our place since July. It’s tough being two full time college students with jobs taking care of an elderly dog, but we made it work. It has been one of the hardest things in my life watching Archie slowly deteriorate. It was especially hard watching him because he was a dog who wanted to live so bad, but he was not able to do the things he wanted to do anymore because his body was giving out.
This is why this whole thing is just so much harder for us to process. Our Archie, who we had been taking such good care of, who we had been revolving our life around and our family, collapsed last night around 3am. Lucas and I took him to emergency vet where they found a tumor/mass had popped inside him. The only other options were surgery or chemo. Seeing as Archie was so elderly, we had decided he was ready to go to sleep and finally get some rest from his arthritic bones and any pain he was in. Myself, Lucas, and Lucas’s parents were there with Archie during his last moments. The vet said she could tell Archie was ready to go. I know he was ready too. He fell asleep gazing into my eyes, I just know he was saying thank you for everything we’ve done for him in his life. Until the very end, Archie was a very happy boy, always happy to see his family and especially his Ella.
Archie is survived by his dog cousins Huffalump, Chloe, Muffin, and Chesnut as well as Blazer and Hank and his cat siblings Beanie and Shelby.
Thank you to everyone who has loved Archie during his lifetime and thank you to everyone who has supported me and Lucas in taking care of him. He is already so missed.
I love you Archie ❤️ -Ella