Local Saint Bernard remembered

Regulars of Delilah’s Pet Shop mourned the loss of the store’s pet icon July 2 after Delilah, the beloved Saint Bernard, passed away at the age of 13.

“A lot of people will miss her,” Karene Kidwell, owner of Delilah’s Pet Shop, said in an emotional interview.

Kidwell has operated her Bloomington business for 22 years. Originally called Custom Grooming, she and her husband Harry elected to change the name to Delilah’s Pet Shop eight years ago in honor of the store’s popular pooch. 

“I’m not vain enough to name the store after myself,” she said.

Delilah first came to the pet store 13 years ago as an 8-week old puppy to be sold. Kidwell was immediately “smitten” with the dog’s intelligence and opted to keep and raise her in the pet store environment. Customers would come in to play with Delilah and to give her treats. Delilah loved the attention, manager Lesli Miller said.

Even in her later years, Delilah would stretch her big body on the floor and sleep while customers shopped. She would paw at a customer’s leg to get their attention as if to say, ‘I am down here, you should pet me!’ Miller said.

Kidwell said Delilah also came to be a maternal figure to the other animals in the shop. One of Kidwell’s fondest memories of Delilah is when she nurtured a depressed papillon that came through the store. Delilah would let the smaller dog sleep on her head and made sure it ate, Kidwell said.

Miller said the store, located at 1320 N. College Ave., has many college graduates come back years after they graduate to see Delilah. 

Delilah’s Pet Shop customer and recent IU graduate Jeremy Lee will remember Delilah as “the largest dog he’s ever seen.” Lee’s fiance, senior Amber Gray, admired how the dog seemed to like having so many people and animals around all her life. 

Miller said having a dog in the shop made people feel much more welcome and connected to the store. 

“Animals give you so much back,” she said. “They love you unconditionally.”

Today, Delilah’s ashes sit on the shelf above her bed in the shop. A sign reading “Delilah, we will miss you” hangs under the shelf. While there was no official ceremony or wake, Miller said friends and customers have expressed sympathy and condolences to her and her coworkers. Delilah touched the customers as much as she did the store employees, Miller said.

“We are so thankful for everyone for being so kind,” Miller said. “For coming in and sharing everything with her and with us. (Delilah) was a really, really sweet girl.”