Dog Love - One of a Series

I love dogs. I don't believe that I have ever encountered a dog with which I could not have bonded, given the appropriate circumstances. I have a particular fondness for abandoned dogs, rejected dogs, abused dogs, dogs that have no place to call home, and dogs that just show up unannounced on my doorstep. I have a long history with dogs, and I cherish all of it, even the sad spaces.

Katy the pit bull simply showed up on our doorstep one day. It was the weekend, and my wife and I were returning from errands. Katy was big and black and curled up under a chair on the front porch. We approached her with caution, first to assess the threat to us and second to determine her physical condition.

She was lethargic and largely non-responsive. When we realized that she was probably harmless, we began to pet her head and speak softly to her. We brought her a little food and a little water and continued this exchange for perhaps an hour. Then my wife posed the obvious question:"What are we going to do with her?"

I responded: "Honey, I think we have basically two alternatives. One, we can beat her off the property with a heavy stick, or, two, we can take her to the veterinary clinic and see what it's going to take to make her feel better." My wife opted for the latter alternative, and I concurred.

Two hours and hundreds of dollars later, we had discovered that Katy (she had shown up anonymously, without any identification - we gave her the name Katy) was seriously malnourished and infested with heartworms. If she were to have even a slim chance of recovering her strength and energy (and not dying!), we would need to make a still larger investment in her.

Now, if you are someone who doesn't love dogs, you might be sorely tempted at this point to exhale forcefully and disdainfully and accuse me of being an irredeemable idiot. I will not even try to defend myself. We dog lovers are who we are, and we do what we love without apologies.

Katy came into our house and our lives that bright day, and we had nine months with her. She was perhaps the least needy dog we have ever had. She had clearly been enervated by the ravages of the heartworms, and she slept a lot in one of the bedrooms. She would never frolic or gambol with the other dogs.

But every few hours, she would emerge from the bedroom to amble from person to person (OK, there were only two of us so it didn't take her very long) to confirm our presence and validate hers, and then she would return to the bedroom. She didn't even want to stay to be petted for any length of time.

We gave her the best heartworm (and other) medicine that we could, and all the love, but too much damage had already occurred. On another bright morning, after some nine months of the simple joy of her presence, she quietly expired. I went to check on her, and she did not respond to her name, her normal practice. We cremate our beloved dogs when they pass, and I always cry. This was no exception.

I don't know why I started with a sad story. There are far more happy stories than sad ones. Big Red, for example. Big Red was a homeless dog, just like Katy had been. Red was a large Golden Retriever and the most docile dog I had ever acquired.There was a game he loved to play with me, and I was more than happy to oblige. Now follow along carefully, taking notes if you need to, while I explain the rules of this game.

Red would assume the universal play position, with his front parts pressed against the floor and his behind stuck up in the air. I, too, would get down on the floor on my stomach facing him, although I was much more modest about the positioning of my behind.

Usually, I would go first. I would reach over with my hand and place it on top of one of his paws. Red would then proceed to remove his paw from beneath my hand and place his paw on top of my hand. Then, and please follow this closely, I would remove my hand from beneath his paw and place it, in turn, on top of his paw. Red would respond by removing his paw from beneath my hand and placing it on top of my hand. This challenging and complex interplay would continue for some time.

Red stayed with us for a long time, much longer than the estimates of experts, and I am grateful for every minute. But what about Duke, Peyton, Mandy, Sam, Trixie, Mario, Fawn, Cody, Buffy … ? More next time.