Nigel Keavy

Nigel Tufnel Beavis Keavy crossed the Rainbow Bridge with his pawrents by his side at Lake Harriet Veterinary on May 3, 2021. Born in Deer Creek, Illinois on September 10, 2010, Nigel moved to Minneapolis to live with his Mum and Dad at the wee age of 12 weeks. When his Dad and Gramps picked him up at the airport that cold November night, he was so happy to meet them and seemed unfazed by his big plane ride. Luckily for Nigel, his Dad was home with him every day for his first 6 years–and his Mum was home with him every day his last 14 months, thanks to the global pandemic. And those years in between, he had lots of walks with his girlfriends (dog walkers) Layla (his longest steady girlfriend), Betsy, Nancy, Ahnna and Carol and of course, the leader of the pack, Gramps.

Nigel LOVED people. In fact, as a puppy, he spent his time at puppy playtime walking around the room getting to know all the people and ignoring the other dogs. He also was assigned to the “Florida” room, reserved for the senior dogs, at Downtown Dogs when he was only 6 months old. When his Paw Pad cousins would come over for afternoon romps, he stayed off to the side and watched them roughhouse with each other. He’d get an occasional butt sniff in here and there, but for the most part, he hung out with all the other doods’ humans.

Nigel loved bananas, blueberries, peanut butter, whipped cream, cheese and the occasional tortilla chip (thanks to Gramps). He was an early riser, often waking his parents up by just staring at them and sometimes with polite whining. To get his Mum’s attention when she was working late on her laptop, he would site politely, then get impatient and make his way to the other side of the chair, then sit politely, then stomp his feet. Eventually, he’d give up and just jump right on her lap and force her to put away her computer!

Nigel enjoyed countless patio dinners and happy hours with his uncles, dinner parties, summer nights hanging out in his lounge around at the pizza farm, romping and bouncing in the Minnesota snow, rabbit poop (a delicious delicacy when he was younger), rubbing his face on the carpet after meals, chewing his Nylabone, afternoon snoozles with his Mum, playtime with Mr. Raccoon and his Dad, his evening routine of eyedrops and tooth brushing, lounging on his throne (the ottoman) and looking out the window waiting for Gramps to come visit on Saturday mornings, ice cube tricks with Papa J, Nana J’s vanilla scented lotion, peeking out the front door windows, racing up and down the stairs to and from the backyard and sprinting down the hallway to jump into the bed at 10pm. He loved sleeping between his pawrents, forming a “H” and pushing them to the very edge of the bed. He also liked their pillows–so much so he would lick them to the point of saturation while they were away at work.

There were really only three things Nigel didn’t like: wind, carrots and car rides.

Nigel was beloved by so many humans near and far. He had his own Instagram account and his Mummy shared many photos and stories on Facebook. Nigel’s one and only acting gig was for a retirement video for Minnesota Public Radio founder Bill Kling. It was a non-speaking part and required lots of looking cute and sniffing of grass on the hill across the street from MPR HQ. Although his acting career didn’t take off, he certainly knew how to pose for the camera and was frequently called upon to model public radio member drive swag. Nigel was also featured in local artist Kat Corrigan’s 30 Dogs in 30 Days project in 2013. Halloween was a favorite holiday–his best costumes were Elvis, Yoda and the Pope–and he loved greeting the trick o’ treaters!

In early 2020, Nigel didn’t seem like himself. His goofy, fun, happy personality started to fade. He didn’t want to play anymore. He wasn’t as excited to take his daily walks. He had tummy troubles. His tail was down more than it was up. He didn’t run around like crazy when Gramps came to visit. He stopped running into the kitchen when he heard the cheese drawer. He went to the vet many times. But, he seemed to have more good days than bad and each time he seemed to have a setback, he would rally. Around the holidays, things started to change. He wouldn’t jump up in the bed anymore. He stopped going down to the backyard to potty. He growled at his Mummy and Daddy when they moved him. He slept a lot. He couldn’t go for walks. Mummy emailed with the vet every week. He walked and walked in circles. He had head tremors. He got himself stuck in corners. He woke up at night panting. He wanted to go out in the middle of the night. He had to be carried out to go potty. He didn’t really care about food. Mummy hand fed him but it took a lot of coaxing. He got confused easily. He had lots of falls. He snarled and barked when his pawrents lifted him out of bed. He was uncomfortable. Eventually, he let his pawrents know it was time to set him free.

He spent his last morning snuggling with his pawrents and enjoying a special breakfast of some of his favorite things. Mummy held him in his favorite blankie from Nana J while Daddy drove to the vet. Mummy sang “Nigel Pie” to the tune of Edelweiss. Daddy cried and told him thank you for being the best dog that ever lived. Mummy cried and cried and cried and told him it was ok to go and she would see him again. He passed peacefully and without pain. We’re sure he was happy to see his Gran and Uncle Scott when he reached the Great Beyond.

Forever wouldn’t have been long enough with our sweet boy. Rest in peace, Nigel.