A Dog Owner and His Dog

Molly's hip has been bothering her alot lately and it bothered her to the point that she collapsed in my front yard the other night. I helped her back into the house and up on the bed like I would do for any other beloved family member when they are hurting like that.

Someone's know it all, pain in the ass Aunt came over the other day to pick up a couple of bags of clothes intended for Goodwill the other morning. For purposes of this blog, this Aunt shall be known as Kia Pita (know it all, pain in the ass). Molly came strolling into the living room to greet her and I was telling Kia Pita how bad Molly's hip had been bothering her and Kia Pita immediately starts telling me that I should have her put down and put her out of her misery. She repeated this two or three times.

Kia Pita is not a dog person, would love for nothing more in this world than for me to get rid of my dog, and to never get another one. This whole conversation really pissed me off, I told Kia Pita it wasn't happening just because her hip bothered her from time to time and her "visit" became greatly abbreviated after that. If Arthritis and failed body parts were a criteria for putting someone down, we would have put Kia Pita down ten years ago.

The "moral" of this story is that a non-dog person does not tell/suggest to a dog lover/owner that he needs to put his dog to sleep unless it is an extreme case of physical distress where the animal is really suffering. I'll be the first to admit that no dog lover/owner wants to hear it even then, but that is not the case now so Kia Pita can keep her opinions to herself. I should have let Molly piss on her leg and take a dump in one of her shoes.

taking time with Molly

When I was sitting in my doctor's office the other day, I picked up a copy of Dog Fancy magazine. I started reading an article written by this woman who had originally thought that walking her dogs was a chore and one she did not relish. She wanted them to finish their business as quickly as possible and get them back in the house.

She then discovered a dirt driveway off of her street that she started taking her dogs down (two small breeds) and in this process, she discovered how therapeutic walking your dogs can be if you take your time with them.

This article really struck a chord with me because the morning before I had really grown impatient with Molly because she was taking about 30 minutes to use the bathroom. We had an "argument" and she ended up back in the house and not finishing her business.

Molly was just doing what dogs do and I am gone about 10 or 11 hours a day and in the greater scheme of things, I don't get to spend that much time with Molly. She is always by my side when I am at home and it is the least I can do for her is to take my time with her and let her do what she does for as long as it takes.

We have a little "circuit" that we take around my neighborhood and one of the little paths that we take is in the woods back behind my house. I went out that afternoon and cut down all of the briars that were in our way to clear us out a better walking trail so we have more territory to cover. Hopefully me and Molly have alot of time left.

Molly's Predecessor

I was looking through some old pictures the other day and I found some pictures of Molly's predecessor, Maggie, that I forgot I even had. Maggie was another "mutt" but she was a beautiful dog and had the sweetest disposition of any dog I have ever been around. It still breaks my heart that she disappeared and I never found her.

In one of the pictures, she is laying half on her side and her butt is tilted up in the air and she has the look of total joy and happiness on her face that seems to be reserved for dogs and children. The pictures brought back so many fond memories and reminded me of what a beautiful dog Maggie was.

The Adoption of Molly

I had been dogless for a little over a year when I decided it was time for me to adopt a puppy. I was in bad need of a four-legged friend. I have always been in favor of adopting animals from the local animal shelter and I wanted to do my part in rescuing a puppy.

I went to the Henderson County Animal Shelter in mid-August 2002 to see who needed a good home. The man working at the Animal Shelter took us around to the back to the enclosed area where all of the dogs were being housed and I walked up to the fence and all of the dogs came running over to me. This little white bundle of energy that was soon to be named Molly was jumping over the top of the other much bigger dogs to reach out to me.

I told him "that is the one," and we went and filled out the paperwork and I had a lifelong companion who has been with me ever step of the way since then. I found out that she had been about 5 minutes away from being euthanized. It was 11:25 when I adopted her. From that point on, every time Molly got into trouble, I tried bargaining with Molly by telling her that "I saved you from the gas chamber." She usually met that statement with raised eyebrows and great indifference.

Over the years Molly has saved me from family members, drug dealers, gold diggers, and strippers and she never me any of those threats with indifference but a great amount of care and concern and was always protecting my best interests. She knew who was bad for me and who was my friend. Not bad for a puppy who was found among the castoffs and the four-legged vagrants at the Henderson County Animal Shelter.

dogs and the moon

There is a full moon out tonight and I can see it clearly through my computer room window and that got me to reminiscing about this dog I used to have named Cujo. A very appropiate name for him in alot of ways. He was destined to be a big dog, solid black with a brown circle on his chest and one of his feet, a brilliant blue eye and an eye so dark brown it was almost black.

When I walked Molly just a few minutes ago, I heard some dogs at the other end of the neighborhood barking and carrying on and that is what made me think of Cujo. He used to sit up in his dog lot at night and if there was a full moon, he would just howl to his heart's content. He would throw that head back and turn it loose. "ooooooo, oooo, ooooooooooo" and he would really draw that last one out. I loved listening to him do it although sometimes it would send a chill down my spine because of the power and the sadness of his wail.

He disappeared with his mother Maggie one afternoon and I never saw them again. That was when I really understood the power and the sadness of his wail.