For the Love of Dog

I've had a few dogs in my life and I've always felt that they were sent to me one way or another. This is going to sound a little crazy but, we're all a little mad here, right? So here goes.

The first dog that I had that was my dog, not a family dog but MY dog, was my Loca Mocha. I was working a grave yard shift at a truck stop, I had just gotten a DUI at 19 and knew that I needed to make some changes. I went out front to smoke and ponder life and one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen came bounding over. She looked like a german shepherd, had the markings of german shepherd but long, super soft hair. A guy was walking up to the doors and I figured she must be his. "Beautiful dog." I said to him. "Oh, she's not mine." He replied. I followed him into the store as I was the only cashier on duty.

I kept an eye on the dog and noticed that she didn't leave with anyone. I took her out some food and water and decided that once my shift was over, if she was still there she would be coming home with me. She had a collar on with a tag and a phone number. I had tried calling and had given the number to my brother to try as well. He finally got ahold of the person and she told him that it wasn't her dog, that her dog had died and someone had stolen the collar off of her dog and put it on this one. (Do you believe it? We didn't.) It was good news to me, after all I didn't want her to have a home, I wanted to be her home.

My shift ended and we loaded her up into my mom's car and home she came. We found out shortly later that she was pregnant and she was an amazing mom to the 9 pups that she had, oh how I wish I would've kept one but we found them all good homes. Fast forward a year and I'm living with a friend, her dog and mine are best of buds.

I came home one night from going out, Loca jumped all over me as she always did, I let them both outside, went back to let them in a few minutes later and Loca was lying on the ground, she had passed away. I thought someone did something to her and a rage came over me that I had never before experienced. I took her to the vet and got an autopsy done (yes, they'll do autopsies on your dog) the vet explained that the walls of her heart had thickened over time and that they don't act any differently until finally the chamber of their heart closes off completely and they just pass. He had a dog with the same thing happen, said it was jumping through a field, happy as could be and then just dropped and was gone. I was utterly heart broken. A few days after burying her I was visiting at my parents house and my mom said to come look out the window at this dog.

She was gorgeous, a cinnamon colored husky with pale blue eyes. I'd always wanted a husky. My mom left to go shopping and the dog was still hanging around. I asked my Dad if we could bring it in and hang on to it until we found it's owners. Surely a dog that beautiful had owners. My dad said yes. That husky came right in and hopped up on the couch next to me like she had known me for years. When my mom got home she was not so happy to see the dog in the house and said it would find it's way back home. My mom opened the door and let the husky out onto the front porch. She went out on the porch, sniffed the air, turned around and came right back in the house. She knew where she belonged. I named her Angel Isabel, Izzy for short.

Izzy went everywhere with me, she even went to my nephew's school for show and tell and everywhere we would go people would always say, "What a pretty dog." And she knew it, she loved going on car rides and camping. She had such a personality.

As as I was working at yet another gas station one of my co-workers was talking about a dog they just got from someone and how their nails were super long. Another co-worker was telling her that the dog was old anyways and she should probably just put it down. I couldn't listen to it anymore and told her I would take the dog. I went over to her place and as soon as I walked in this tiny little fluff ball called a shih tzu started jumping up and down. "That's the first time she's acted like that." My co-worker said. That's cause she knew, she knew I was there for her. Her name was Gracie and she was the smallest dog I've ever had and the oldest, she was 18 when I got her and I got the pleasure of being hers for 3 years before she passed.

When I decided to move out on my own it wasn't in the best of neighborhoods. For as dog friendly as my town claims to be landlords would like to disagree. I remember thinking that as much as I loved Izzy I would love to have another dog that was a bit more intimidating. I thought of my brother's black lab that Izzy got along with so well. A few days after that thought occurred a young male black lab showed up at my house. Again I figured this must be someone's dog. I took his picture and put out found ads. My brother said that he would take him and as much as I wanted him I didn't know if I really had the time for him. I told my brother he could take him and that same day the dog's owner called. My brother dropped him off to his owners and I figured that was that and again, I was a bit heartbroken. A few months later I went to let Izzy in from outside and a familiar visitor was in the yard.

This time I decided that I would wait and watch for a lost ad for him. I checked facebook and craigslist daily, I called the animal shelters, no one was looking for him. That, along with there being the end of a zip tie on his collar told me all I needed to know. He was meant to be with me. And that's how I got Loki. He and Izzy were thick as thieves. I lost her a few years back from diabetes but she got to see the new house and I don't know why but that was so important to me that she got to be here with me. She came through so much with me.

Shortly after she passed one of my childhood friends asked if I could take in their border collie mix because their husband wasn't being very nice to it. I of course said yes and that's how I got Dixie. I've never seen two dogs that get along quite as well as my Loki and Dixie do. And I know one day I'll have to say goodbye and that I'll be heart broken once again. But for the love of dog, I can't say no.