Lucy, you got some "splainin" to do..
Hello everyone,
I think this is my first post here even though I joined a while back. I was shown this site by my dad. You may know him as "kokopup." Although, "He" isn't actually kokopup. That would make me a dog and I can't image how difficult it would be to type this post if I were. KoKopup is actually my dad's lab/golden retriever and they both live next door to me and my family.
I have a story involving a dad and a son, and 3 dogs. (sounds like a good name for a canine business venture..hmmm..)
I am sure many reading this already know the story of kokopup (KoKo) and how she came into my dad's life a few years ago. If you don't know the story, I will let him explain in a reply, but suffice to say this dog was heaven sent.
We have all heard the statement, "All dogs go to heaven," and I believe that without a doubt; but I also believe that "All dogs "COME" from heaven." How could they "not" be a gift from heaven? Is there any more devoted companion? We humans can learn a great deal from our dogs, especially the part about "unconditional love." Dogs don't care how much money we make or what kind of car we drive. They could care less what kind of skeletons we have in the closet and Even when we have a bad hair day, they are still excited to walk a hundred miles with you and probably brag about us to all their doggy pals regardless of what we feed them.
"All dogs come from heaven," has become so real to me in the past 10 months. You see, my family and I moved 2,000 miles from Arizona to Alabama last year and riding the entire 2,000 miles without one single, "Are we there yet?" was our Chihuahua "Desi." Desi has been part of our family for about 3 years. I bought him for my daughter's 20th birthday and she named him Desi before we even walked out of the breeder's house. Why Desi? That's what I asked too. She told me that because she loved "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" and "The Lucy Show" and since Desi was a male Chihuahua, he had to be named after Desi Arnez. So, off we drove with the only Cuban Chihuahua in America.
Shortly after we moved to Alabama, we began to hear strange things in the night. Like little feet running inside the walls. You have to understand that we had lived in Arizona for the past 20 years and believe it or not, "Rats" are not an animal you see very often. Must have something to do with the 120 degree temps in the Summer. I am sure there are rats in Arizona but I never saw or "heard" one in 20 years. They were sure alive and well in Dixie though. After "Googling," "How to assassinate rats" I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart and bought some poison...Muahaaaa....goodbye rats!
What I didn't take into account is that my Cuban friend was about the size of a large rat and apparently didn't get the family memo that the poison had been dispersed. (My dad would say, "well, that was stupid.") and I suppose it was, but it never occurred to me that our Chihuahua would assume that the rat poison was some kind of new fangled small breed delicacy. The first morning we woke after strategically placing the rat poison around the house, I noticed that one of the little packets had been penetrated. "Yes! now it is only a matter of time before little Ratatouille Carry's the new found stash back to the rest of the gang." A few days went by and we still heard the little feet, and scratching...sweaking even. Each morning I checked the poison and could see evidence that the bait had been taken, but each night I still heard the noises.
On the third day, we all noticed that Desi had become a Zombie and wouldn't even eat the special Cuban dishes we cooked up for him. He didn't want to go out, play, eat, or anything that required actually being awake. I really noticed a change in his behavior when we would go on our early morning walk with KoKo in the woods around our house. KoKo is always on the leash leading the way and Desi scrambles to keep up. Those little legs moving a mile a minute, but for the past few days he was barely keeping up at all. "What is wrong with him?" We all began to ask this and suddenly it hit me...."OH NO! Ratatouille hadn't eaten the poison, Desi did!" I rushed to my trusty computer and Googled "What to do if your Chihuahua eats food that was meant for pesky rats!" I also called my dad, knowing that he would know what to do. He is actually better than Google most of the time now that I think about it. Anyway, needless to say, Desi was going downhill fast and I had no idea that he was bleeding to death internally. My heart sunk as I broke the news to the kids. My dad came over and said that we needed to get him to a hospital quick. "They take dogs in the emergency room?" I asked. (This is Alabama, so I suppose there are stranger things.) I pictured us screeching to a halt at the emergency room and running in with Desi, screaming, "Somebody help!! My Cuban Chihuahua is bleeding to death!"
It didn't actually go down that way, but it was close. It was actually Sunday and I didn't think a Vet would be open so the Hospital emergency room seemed like a viable option. However, there was an Animal Hospital in town (20 miles away) and there was a Vet on call. We loaded Desi in the car and I tried to encourage him not to give up as we rushed down the rural highway to the small animal clinic. He seemed to be fading fast and as I held him it suddenly hit me that this was all my fault. Because of my stupid mistake, (not briefing Desi about the rat poison) I had just killed my daughter's best friend and probably the only Cuban Chihuahua on the face of the earth. This was a situation that required a lot of prayer and I began to do just that.
The Vet's assistant took Desi to the back..and I wanted to come too but they told me to wait in this small room with a metal table. "Wait! I am immediate family, you have to let me go back with him...isn't that some kind of Hipa law?" I lost the battle and as they took Desi back I looked at his sad face and it brought me to my knees. I could see, no feel, the anguish in his eyes. "How could I have been so stupid!?" "God please don't let him die"
I never thought I could become so attached to animal. We had gone through quite a few dogs and cats over the years, but this one had something about him that had me feeling as if I had just poisoned one of my own children. "It's just a dog Mike, you can get a new one," I thought to myself as I sat in that small room trying to come to grips with what I had just done. Surely I was going to be haunted by this for many years to come. I prepared for the worst because all of the info I found after "Googling" what I had done didn't stack the odds in Desi's favor.
Finally, the Doctor, umm..Vet came in and told us the news. Desi had in fact eaten rat poison and he blood work came back with very bad results. He was almost to the point of no return. "How long ago did he eat the poison?" the Vet asked. " A few days ago," I replied. He didn't need to tell me that I should never have left that rat poison out like I did and that Desi's chances would be much better if we had caught it sooner. I saw it in his eyes. "Desi's only chance is to have a transfusion." He explained. "OK, I will be the donor, take me to the back and let's do this." Google didn't mention anything about human blood and canine blood being incompatible. "So what can we do?" Do you have any extra doggy blood?" "Does it have to be Chihuahua blood?"
Well, as I mentioned before, I believe that all dogs "come" from heaven and not only had God sent KoKo to my dad one day a few years ago to help him through his battle with cancer, she was now going to be the blood donor for Desi. "You can do that?" I asked. "Will he start chasing birds and pointing at things like a hunting dog?" Actually I didn't care if he grew a beard and wanted to chew up everything in site, I just wanted him to live. KoKo, being the champ that she was really stepped up to the plate and assured us that she didn't mind one bit doing whatever she could to help save Desi's life. After all, how many Labs can say they have a Cuban Chihuahua for a sister?
The transfusion was a success and over the next few months Desi bounced back with a full recovery. He was once again running to keep up on our walks with KoKo and happy as a Lark. (What does that even mean? I'm going to have to Google that). Well, life went on...and Desi was once again the happy little guy that made it hard to be depressed about anything when he was around. I swear he actually "smiles" or "laughs" when we are playing. His ears go back and his little tongue curls back and he smiles. It is such a heart warming site to see and when I thought he was going to die, I kept picturing his face as we played in the woods and prayed I would get to see his like that again.
Thanks to KoKo and my dad, my prayer was answered and Desi is as happy and healthy as ever. However, as the next few months passed, I noticed that he wanted more than just the 2 a day walks and playing in the yard. I think he actually wanted a dog or cat friend to play with too. See, when we lived in Arizona, we also had 2 cats and the three of them always played cat and dog games. It was so cool to watch Desi play with those two cats, although I did catch them playing kitty practical jokes on him from time to time. The day we packed up to move to Alabama, we tried to put the cats in crates for the move. That is a whole nother story in itself. Needless to say, they weren't having anything to do with it. So, unfortunately we had to leave them in Arizona. Now, Desi didn't have play pals living in the same house. Sure, KoKo was his friend and they loved walking together, but when KoKo plays, Desi becomes his rag doll and it is actually rather uncomfortable to watch, to be honest. KoKo has a mouth just big enough to actually hide Desi if she wanted and they playing can get a little rough....and although I am sure Desi loves it, he has to be getting some kind of brain damage from all of that being tossed about by KoKo the Giant.
Desi must have began to pray for a new friend. Not that KoKo was old news, but KoKo lived next door and he wanted a pal he could share his pad with. One that would be available 24/7 for playing doggy games. I was kind of getting the itch for another dog or even a cat myself, but my wife, God love her, wasn't having any of it. "NO! we have a dog. we aren't getting another." "He is actually a Cuban Chihuahua for your information and he needs another animal so he doesn't get so bored." I would tell her....but it was not gonna happen. Until......God answered Desi's prayer.....
Last Saturday I was sitting at my computer, probably Googling "How to convince wife to get a new dog." when my oldest son said, "Dad, there is some stray dog out on the carport." At first I just said, "yeah, OK...give him some water and he will probably move on." I didn't even get up to look. 4 hours later it was still there. So... I decided to go out and see what was going on. When I opened the door, this beautiful Chocolate Labrador Retriever slowly walked up to me and extended his paw. "Is this the dog that showed up 4 hours ago? I asked my son. Turns out it was and "OMG! it is a full blooded Chocolate Lab." At least it sure looked like it was so I rushed back to my trusty computer and "Googled" (Labrador Retriever). Well, after a few minutes of research I was convinced this dog was a real Chocolate Lab, not one of those foreign imports. My youngest son asked if we could keep him. I was like, "heck yes! we just hit the doggy lottery." However, my wife, once again, being the rational(albeit wonderful) person that she is said, no!
We knew we couldn't just leave him outside so we invited him in and called dad. "Hey dad, guess what just walked up to my house 4 hours ago and wont leave?" We put a leash on him and took him next door to show him and wondered what KoKo would think about this "stray" dog that just appeared out of no where. He did look like a stray. Kind of mangy actually. It was obvious that he had been on his own for a while. We were all falling in love with this lab quickly. Although he looked like he had been through hell, he acted like he was ordered specifically for the Johnson house and shown exactly how to act in order to make Johnson family fall in love with him.
We decided that we would make some "found lost dog" signs and put them up around the area. I made sure the signs didn't indicate it was a Chocolate Lab, otherwise we would have had every "Good ole Boy" bird hunter in the county calling to claim her. Oh yes, I forgot to say that this was a girl lab. She didn't have any tags, only a collar, so we didn't know what to call her. My youngest son decided he would call her "Jess" and when I asked why, he didn't really have a reason, "Just cause.." "OK, thats cool," I said. We gave her a bath, feed her, and decided that since she may be with us for a few days before the owner shows up, we better take her to the Vet to make sure she doesn't have anything that might hurt Desi.
At the vet, we were told that she was around 7 months old and was in fact a full blooded lab. "Jackpot!" I was already spending the money in my head that we were going to make off of breeding her. OK, back to reality. We were sure that somebody would show up to claim her soon, I mean, who lets a Chocolate Lab puppy just walk away? She was probably the property of someone close to our house and within the next day or so we would be back to being a one dog family and wishing we had never put the "Found Dog" signs up. In the mean time, however, I felt we should have her checked out and get her up to date on all the puppy requirements just to safe. After paying the $120.00 invoice we took her back home and waited for the phone to ring. A day came a went, no call. On the second day she was already acting like she had been with us her whole short life. I mean. literally, this dog acted like she had been with us since birth and we were her new family.
On the 3rd day I got a call, "Hi, I am calling about the "Lost Dog" signs." My stomach did a flip flop and I started to get anxious. "Please God, don't let this be the real owner." Turns out this lady had lost a Yorkie. "Sorry mam, no British dogs here." Man, this was becoming very unnerving. For three days now, this dog had been warming up to us and vice versa. I was actually beginning to think of a new name for her but still didn't want to get my hopes up too much. By day 4 I decided she needed a name, even if it was just temporary. I decided that since we had a "Desi" we needed a "Lucy." "Yes!, that's it.... you will be called Lucy." Lucy had been sleeping in the bed with me each night and layed with her head in my lap as we watched TV together. I was starting to plan how I would explain to the owner, when they did show up, how Lucy must have snuck out through the kitty door when we weren't looking. Trouble was, we didn't have a kitty door. "Oh, you lost a Chocolate Lab? sorry, the dog we found is a Brown Poodle." (is there such a thing?)
By day 5 and no legitimate call, I was beginning to think we were going to be able to keep her. I went out and bought her a lot of toys and began questing her about what type of food she wanted me to get for her. She seemed so happy and content and all of us, including my wife were falling head over heals in love with her. She even began responding to her new name. We talked about the Chance that if she did stay with us and had puppies in the near future, we would have to name one of them "Little Ricky." I was now past the point of no return. If somebody called and it turned out that they were in fact the owner, I was going to hide her in the attic and tell them she was stolen by aliens and we had no idea where she was. My conscience got the better of me though and I pictured little little kids anguishing over her food bowl back at her real home. Man, I didn't want to be the cause of some kid turning out to be a serial killer because they lost their first puppy.
On day 6, we got the call. The one we didn't want to get. My wife and I were actually not at home when the call came and my oldest son, Matt, took it. When Ann (thats my wife) and I got home, Matt was still on the phone with the guy and I overheard him say, "Yes, you can come get her now." "Noooooooo! quick, run grab the spray paint...we're going to turn her into a Black Lab." But, once again, I couldn't bring myself to disappointing some little kid that had probably been praying every night for weeks that God would return his puppy. So.... we waited. Once he showed, I opened the door and Lucy walked out in front of me. The gentleman stepped out of his truck and said, "yep, thats her....hello KoKo...we have been looking everywhere for you."
"Her name is KoKo? You've got to be kidding me." My dad has......anyway, I didn't feel much like talking to this evil man that had come to take away my lottery winnings away. Turns out this man was the brother-in-law of the real owners and his son had seen the signs we put out. As he told us about how they had all been looking for her for weeks, Lucy kept standing right under my legs. She acted like she didn't even know this guy. As he continued he told us that his brother-in-law had gotten her from a good breeder and that she was full blooded lab from a champion line. The more he talked the sicker I felt. I didn't really care if she was a Poodle/Great Dane mix, I loved this dog and didn't want to give her back. Since it was obvious that she had been gone a while due to her appearance, I asked if she had been an indoor dog. He told me that his brother-in-law actually kept her out in the hot barn chained up. He went on to say that she didn't get much attention at the other house and he could tell that we had taken good care of her. "Yep, she has quickly become part of our family and we sure wish we could keep her." I told him.
"Well, I tell you what...I would actually love to see her have a better home so instead of taking her right now, I will leave her with you and give him your number." he said. As he drove way, Lucy was jumping up on me like dogs do and I could see that this man didn't want to inform his brother-in-law that he had found Lucy. I was hoping his heart would sway in our favor and the "brother-in-law" would never know.....however, my thoughts about little kids crying over their lost dog kept haunting me. And I wasn't wrong...there were kids involved and hey apparently had been very upset over losing her. So, once again, we waited for the phone to ring.
About 1:00 pm the call came. "Mike, this is the owners of the Lab you have, we would like to come get her." Reluctantly, I told her that we would be home all day and she could come whenever she wanted. I also told her that we had spent $120.00 on her and she agreed to pay us back. Just before we hung up, I decided it was worth a shot..."So, I know this is probably a stupid question, but is there any way you might consider letting us keep her?" ...there was a pause...then she told me, "I'm sorry but my husband has worked with her a lot and the kids miss her....we will be over to get her soon." Then....as Bill Murray said in Stripes ....depression set in.
BY 5:00 pm they had not come. 6:00 and still nothing. I decided to call the guy that had actually come to the house to see her. I told him that they had called and were suppose to be coming to get her but they hadn't come yet.."I would appreciate it if someone would either come get her or call me." I was scared to even look at her or touch her because I didn't want to get any closer to her than I already had. The waiting was killing me. Once again, I prayed.."God, please let me keep her." She sure wasn't acting like she was waiting for them to come get her. She seemed perfectly content to stay with us forever. But...the kids.....I can't hurt them.
Midnight....still nothing..."What is wrong with these people?" I pondered. If I was the one who had lost my Chocolate Lab I would have been to gt her within minutes and 10 hours had passed since they called. I was once again rehearsing my alien abduction story. By 1:00 am Lucy was snoring in my lap and I was tired of waiting so we went to the bedroom, Lucy jumped up on the bed and we went to sleep. I don't know what Lucy was dreaming about, but I hoped her dreams involved her staying with us. Thats surely what mine were.
I got up this morning at 5:30am like I usually do and rounded up Desi and Lucy for our morning walk in the woods. Just like clockwork they headed for the door and we hit the trail. I found myself hoping that they wouldn't call. "Maybe they don't want to pay the $120.00," crossed my mind, but the reality was that I would not have pressed that issue...afterall, the kids...making the kids smile again would be worth the $120.00. As we came out of the woods, my wife was standing on the back deck with the phone, "It's the lady about Lucy ..umm. KoKo." "Crap, tell her we ran away during the night and you have no idea where we are." Those kids...."ok, give me the phone" I said. Sure enough, it was dragon lady..I mean the real owner.
I know in my heart that there is a God. I know that He answers prayers because He has got me out of more binds that I care to mention. But, does he hear the prayers of animals? Do you think dogs communicate with God? I may not know until I die and can go ask Him myself, but what I do know is God knows what is best for everyone and that there are no accidents. I don't know the whole story about how Lucy ended up breaking away from her original owners or what she went through between escaping from the hot barn and ending up on my carport. I don't really care anymore because the lady on the other end of the phone made my day. "Mike, my husband and I have decided that we just can't take her back. We both work long hours and she doesn't get the attention she needs. So... if you want to keep her, she is yours." I have gotten many phone calls in the past with good news, but this one made me happier than I have been in a long time. Not that I was unhappy or discontent with things as they were before Lucy showed up, but there is amazing about the feeling one gets when someone or something loves them with the kind of love a dog gives. I know my wife and kids love me with all their hearts, but I have let them down many times in the past. Humans, regardless of how much we love someone, never seem to forget the wrongs done to us. Unconditional love is something I think we all aspire to give. Especially to our family, but the reality is that true unconditional love, true forgiveness, and unwavering loyalty can only be given by a dog. Man's best friend. Lucy has been part of our family for 6 days now, and I have seen more love in her eyes than I could ever hope to give back. We can all learn a little something about love from our dogs...
....especially those that "come" from heaven. The ones, like KoKo, Lucy, and Desi that were predestined to be part of God's plan. A plan, or an answer to prayer, maybe both...that resulted in unspeakable joy and belief that sometimes, there really is a happy ending.
http://v3rax.com/lucy.jpghttp://v3rax.com/desi.jpg
