As I've made obvious in my past several posts, my health has been rather on the crappy side, which has in turn resulted in my emotional state being down in the dumps. This emotional state was been worsened by the fact that my husband has been working out of town for almost 3 weeks straight and my Mom's dog (which felt like my dog because we live on the same property and he pretty much lived on my porch) had to be put down when he was hit by a car and was too injured to save.
His name was Bo and we raised him from a puppy. He was a very mischievous and naughty boy, but he had a heart of gold and we all loved him (except for the days when we wanted to choke him for destroying anything he could get his mouth on!). So when he died the whole family was sad and every day when I came home and he wasn't waiting to greet me on my porch, my daughter and I would cry. My sister and her children cried every time they came over and he wasn't there to harass them as they got out of their car. I'm pretty sure my dad even shed a very macho tear or two behind those dark sunglasses. My mom who raised him from the time he was 6 weeks old really took it hard so my sister sent her flowers and I wrote her this poem which I am having made into a grave marker with the above photo on it in remembrance of our very naughty and very loved dog.
Goodbye Bo
2006-2011
Goodbye gentle golden eyes,
Goodbye prints of mammoth size.
Goodbye happy leaping greets,
Goodbye chewed up cushion seats.
Goodbye garden statue muncher,
Goodbye front porch floorboard luncher.
Goodbye manic squirrel pursuits,
And half-eaten children's rubber boots.
Goodbye swimming wet dog shakes,
Goodbye midnight barking wakes.
Goodbye friend who played with logs,
Chewed our cars and chased wild hogs.
Goodbye Bo, your life was short,
But lived like the most joyous sort.
Now you're in Heaven looking down,
Serving as an Angel's clown.
Chasing things down streets of gold,
Forever young and never old.
By: Annie Baker 4/16/11
That poem seemed to help everyone feel a little better because it reminded us all just what a comical dog he had been. We all knew we wanted to get another dog for the farm too, because it just isn't the same to drive up and not be greeted by a big dog. At first my parents discussed buying a puppy from a breeder. I quickly talked them out of that. I used to volunteer and train dogs with the Humane Society and I know that there are so many wonderful dogs at shelters waiting to be rescued and you can get an adult dog and skip that awful "puppy" stage where everything gets chewed up, pooped on, peed on, etc. So I showed my parents how to use petfinder.com to see some dogs that were locally available, but since often times ALL the dogs they have aren't posted I suggested we take a trip to the shelter and see what kinds of dogs were there. We also brought my little dog Suzi to make sure any new dog we found was going to be nice to her because we all share the same property. My parents' home is on one end of the property and mine is on the other. We also brought my daughter to make sure the prospective dogs would be good with kids. This is a picture of my little dog.
So, we all loaded up and went to the shelter. When we got there, there weren't very many dogs and the lady that worked there told us that most of their dogs were at PetSmart for an adoption drive. So after we walked through and made a mental note of a few possible dogs at the shelter, we headed out to PetSmart to see what other options were available. As soon as we walked in the door my mom went straight to this very sweet and pretty black lab mix and she knew instantly that she wanted her. She started talking to the shelter attendant about the dog the lady told her that if that dog did not get adopted today that she was going to be put down very soon because they can only keep them 90 days and they have had her since February. The lady told my mom that another family had already paid the adoption fees so someone else could have her for free because they weren't able to take the dog in themselves, but they couldn't stand the idea that someone might not be able to pay the $105.00 adoption fee which would be leaving an incredibly sweet dog for dead. The family that did that even bought toys, leashes, and a collar to give to whomever came along and was willing to take the dog. That was such a sweet and generous act of kindness on the part of that family to be so concerned for a dog they couldn't even take in to make arrangements so another family could to save the dog's life! When things like that happen, it helps to renew my faith in mankind and it blesses my heart that everyone in the world is not so self absorbed and heartless as it sometimes feels like they are out in the world. While mom had her eye on that dog, whose name is Izzy, I was immediately attracted to a cinnamon colored purebred Doberman in the back corner. I had already been looking online for a Doberman to rescue but wasn't sure if I wanted to go through with the one I found because it was all the way in Daytona Beach, FL. I owned a rescued Doberman years ago and he was the sweetest dog but my landlord at the time wouldn't let me keep him because he was scared of him (even though he had absolutely no reason to be scared because the dog was a gentle giant). Dobermans, like pit bulls, get a bad wrap because of the way they get portrayed in the media as these vicious attack dogs, when in reality, dogs are going to have the temperament that their owner fosters in them in nearly every case. This Doberman was sooo sweet and calm and loving. I was in love at first sight. We took him out of his cage and he is a BIG boy, probably 75-85 pounds and he went over to my 17 pound Suzi and sniffed her and then licked her on the head with a smile. A little two year old boy came over and patted his head and the dog licked the top of the kid's head and licked his fingers and was so gentle and sweet to the toddler. I told mom I wanted to get him but she was terrified of him because he was so big and she has always seen Dobermans portrayed as vicious. Then I kept begging her to give him a chance and she saw how the dog was acting with all kinds of small breed dogs walking around him and under him and toddlers going over and hugging on him and I reassured her that if he was aggressive in any way we would have already seen a display by that point. So she slowly warmed up to him and began to see what an angel he was and then she said we could adopt him too! I was so excited because she had told me before we couldn't have a Doberman on the property because she thought they were too dangerous. Then the shelter attendant told us he was positive for heartworms and that is why someone turned him in because they couldn't afford the treatment and no one wants to adopt him because of the same reason. Heartworm treatment is very expensive for a big dog. I asked the lady if the Humane Society would help with the treatment cost if we agreed to adopt the dog and care for him during his treatment time, which would mean 30 days in confinement and leash walking only because getting the dog excited during treatment causes the heart to pump blood faster and it can cause a clot with the dead heartworms making their way out of the system, which can be fatal. The Humane Society agreed to pay for the treatment if we would adopt him because otherwise they would have to put him down because they didn't have a foster who could take care of him during the treatment time and no one wanted to deal with that to adopt him. So I'm so excited that we saved two dogs from being killed and they are going to make great additions to our little farm! I decided to name the Doberman Chopper because when Dobermans want to play they chop their teeth together at you when they get excited. He is such a beautiful dog too.
So now while I'm sitting around the house feeling sick and miserable with this crappy lupus flare that we can't seem to get under control, I'll have a sick buddy to commiserate with. The dogs are being spayed and neutered this weekend and we get to go and pick them up Monday afternoon and I can't wait. My mom wants the Doberman to be her yard dog, but after he spends a month in my house and I get him trained he is clearly going to be my dog! LOL My dad said the way I treat my animals, I'll have the dog so spoiled he won't want anything to do with my mom, so she needs to plan on that dog being mine. HA HA I think my dad is right! I told mom she can visit Chopper when I take him outside. LOL Now let's just pray that Chopper gets along with our ferrets, Fibbit and Woozle. I'm going to have to be very careful with that introduction.
So I'm happy to report that I am in better spirits because of all this dog business even though my body is still refusing to get on the happy bandwagon with my mind. I was telling my niece and nephews about the new dogs coming home Monday and they are all excited too. Amazing how a couple of dogs can lift everyone's spirits! Even Suzi is happy that she got to meet new friends today and be part of the screening process, because she is always going to be the top dog around here.
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