The last two dogs Miki and I
had were Bear and Jessie. A husky
and a lab mix pound puppy. They
lived with us for around 15 years and their “dash” included escaping from the
yard, trips to the vet to get stitched back together, and more lovin’ that
thought possible. When Jessie left
us and Bear followed a year later, we thought dogs would be out of the picture
for at least a few years. Shortly
after their absence from our family unit, I was on a motorcycle trip that
landed me in Estes Park, Colorado. I was taking the afternoon off to relax
my gluteus maximi and found myself in a park watching two dogs play like there
was no tomorrow. Reckless abandon falls short of describing the fun they seemed to be having. There were flying frisbees, endless tail grabbings
(bitings), and short timeouts that would end with an ambush to start it all
over again. This was actually
foreshadowing for Tuck and Tooga.
I returned home and in the
stories I shared with Miki from my trip, the dogs I met were right up there
with the mountains I passed over, the weather that was endured, and the winds
that had me leaning into them at angles I was afraid to measure. The wait for getting two more dogs was
about over.
We were out one day shopping
and there was a puppy adoption set up in front of a pet store, next to the
store we were heading toward. My
sister lead us over to see the dogs that were looking for their next home. While the showoffs were getting all the
attention, there was a crate in the back that had two puppies, one reddish in
color and the other more blonde, that were just sitting there, and that is when
I learned that female dogs can be loose with there romantic partners. Other than their tails, which were
identical, down to the white tips. One looked to be lab and Brittany and the
other lab and maybe greyhound, but definitely not “brother” looking material. I was attracted to the blonde and Miki
to the red one. They won us over
and they went home with us about 12 years ago last June.
During this period of time,
Miki and I were learning to whitewater canoe in North Carolina. Two of the rivers we paddled were the
Chattooga and the Tuckasegee. Out
of wherever names come from, the dogs were knighted with their names, Tooga
(the red one) and Tuck (the blonde one).
Tooga was the more aggressive, alpha acting one, while Tuck was the
“Walmart Greeter.” Tooga was a
very anxious dog and Tuck was just happy to be there. They played well together most of the time, although Tuck
bears some scars on his little face from Tooga’s aggressive moments that seemed
to come from nowhere, to the untrained eye…a dog whisperer I’m not. They were hysterical to watch play, as
they chased one another and did body slams in the air, as if making a
game-winning touchdown. Tooga
developed arthritis in one of his hips before his elder years began, but it never
slowed him down. Every morning,
they would leap off the deck and sprint to the back fence to see who was in
their park. Friday morning, the
same actions transpired that have been going on for over a decade. The difference was, after I closed the back door and turned
away, I heard a gut-wrenching cry of pain, that only a dog can make. The rest I described in the previous
posting.
9:00 Saturday morning I was
at the vets office to see how Tooga had done overnight. Physically he had not changed and the
doctor showed me the x-ray depicting a slipped disc pushing up into the spinal
cord, rendering everything towards the tail limp. As the doctor described possible treatments and outcomes,
the only thing I could think of was if this happened once, it will happen
again. Tooga was balls to the wall
in everything he did. Everything
he did, he did with a sense of intensity.
Knowing that dog, there was only one action I thought would help his
situation and that was to put him down.
And my hope was that Miki would be there to catch him on the other
side. I held his head between my
hands and put my forehead to his, as the doctor administered a lethal does of
anesthesia. It was quick and painless
and having been through it 6 times before with our other cats and dogs, it
never gets easier. The only difference this time was that Miki was not there beside me. I was hoping she was looking over me and preparing to receive Tooga.
Run hard big
dog, run hard!
My Zen from Home: Tuck looks at me funny
these days and doesn’t seem to want to leave the house with me. Every time I do, he sees whoever is
with me doesn’t come back! I would
love to know what he’s really thinking or feeling, cause he has been a little
closer by than normal. He knows
what’s up and seems to be helping me through my turmoil and in turn I will do
the same for him. We’ll both get
through this…all of this.
A reminder:
A celebration of Miki’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m.
December 21, 2013
Blue Springs High School Commons
2000 NW Ashton Dr, Blue Springs, MO 64015.
Miki asked that in lieu of flowers, donations in her name be
made to:
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Road
Kanab, Utah 84741
and/or
Kansas City Hospice
9221 Ward Parkway, Suite 100
Kansas City, MO 64114
Envelopes will be made available at
the service for those wishing to contribute at that time.
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