Dogs That Come Into Our Lives

I just followed a link on my niece's blog and read a poem by a man I'd never heard of before. His name is Phil Collins (WHOOPS! Make that "Billy Collins") and his poetry touched my soul and made me ache to be able to put thoughts into words the way he does.

But that skill is beyond me so I'll just go ahead and write today's blog about a special little dog who lived with us a long time ago.

I really do believe that some things are meant to be and, reading my sister-in-law's (Marilee) blog this morning about how her precious little dog came into her life, it just drove home how certain people and pets come to you when you need them most.

Many years ago my children and I decided we wanted a dog. My husband, who rarely said a direct "no!" said a direct and firm "no".

We listened politely and then pulled out the newspaper to scan the "pets for sale" section. I left the children for a moment and suddenly heard them screeching with joy because they'd found the perfect dog...a 4 month old Lab (we'd wanted a Lab). It was free to a good home, but the strange thing was that the dog was not advertised in the "pets for sale" column but in the "lost and found pets" column. I would never have looked there but my children did. It was meant to be.

We phoned the number listed and the people explained that this small Lab that they thought was around 4 months old (he turned out to be at least a year old, fully grown, and a Lab mix) had appeared on their doorstep one freezing day and they'd taken him in. They'd advertised twice in the lost and found but no-one had come to claim him and they couldn't keep him because they already had another dog.

We convinced my husband that he should take us just to look at the dog, not to bring him home with us, and he reluctantly agreed. Silly man.

I'll never forget my first view of Corky (as we called him). He was trying so hard to keep out of everyone's way and not be a pest that he was knocking things over. He was a klutz but a good and gentle one. We fell in love with him on sight.

Needless to say, we brought Corky home with us that night and my husband fell in love with him almost as fast as the children and I did.

We had Corky for 15 years and he was always a positive addition to our household. He was part of the family in the truest sense of the word. He had his own Xmas stocking and received presents under the tree just like the rest of us. Not really knowing his age, we gave him a birthday anyway...the day he came to live with us...April 13th. It's funny but I can't remember the year now.

Corky learned the rules of the house very fast and only broke them when we weren't home. He hated being left alone, probably because of his abandonment in a cold, Canadian winter before we got him. He wasn't allowed on the furniture but the minute we stepped out the door without him he climbed up on the sofa. We'd come home to see him dragging himself towards us on his tummy (his way of knowing he was in trouble and begging us not to beat him) and we'd find black dog hair all over the sofa. Of course he was never beaten but he hated it when we were angry with him.

He learned to stay out of my flower gardens and the vegetable garden. When my husband was working in the veggie patch, Corky was terribly uneasy, looking constantly at me to see if his daddy was going to be in trouble.

Corky slept in bed with my daughter, head on the pillow beside her, and warmly bundled under her comforter. Some people might think this is too unsanitary but we did it anyway. He knew when it was 7:30 A.M. and got up to straddle my daughter and stare into her face, getting her up for school. The trouble was that he didn't understand that Saturdays and Sundays were not school days.

As Corky aged he noticably lost strength and hearing. It was heartbreaking when the day came he no longer wanted to chase the squirrels out of his yard. He was sleeping by the patio door and a squirrel walked right up to the screen and looked at him, wanting to play their game of "chase the squirrel but never catch it". Corky lifted an eyebrow, aware the squirrel was close by, but turned his head so that he didn't have to acknowledge it. To acknowledge it meant he'd have to chase it and he was simply too tired.

Corky walked up to me one day while I was in the kitchen, sqatted and peed on the floor. His eyes were glazed over and he seemed to have no idea what he was doing. It wasn't that he'd lost control of his bladder but that senility had crept in. The problem became unbearable for us.

It wasn't long before the day came when my husband took him to the vet and had him "put down".

When we bring a pet into our homes we don't look ahead to the day when we'll lose him. In the back of our minds we know he won't live forever but first time pet owners have no idea how much heartache accompanies the death of a much loved pet.

Having a pet "put down" when the time comes is not necessarily a bad thing but, because we choose the moment, it always leaves us with a sense of guilt. I believe in euthanasia for human beings, too, but maybe the guilt would be too strong to be able to go through with it. When a person is beyond help, in pain and misery, why is it wrong to help them pass?

Corky was a king among dogs and we were so fortunate that he came to us when he did. He enhanced our lives and I still smile when I think of him.