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| Dog Story by � kanee I was caught up in a great battle, trying to win out over piles of dirty diapers, dirty dishes, dirty floors, dirty little faces, grass that needed mowing, weeds that needed pulling, and toilets that begged to be cleaned. Still a teenager, I was feeling very much like I was missing all the fun and �romance� that many of the other kids my age were still having... I was feeling old and uhm.... domestic, and very unglamorous. So when my husband called me from work one day and cooed, �I have a surpriiiiiiiiise for yooouuuuuuuuu,� my heart skipped several beats as I had visions of roses, romance and passion. �Ok, the diapers can wait, there are plenty drying in the sun on the clothes line. If I bathe the baby now and keep her busy enough to skip her nap, maybe she�ll go to bed EARLY. Omygosh... where is that Magnolia soap my sister gave me for my birthday?� I was in a frenzy of anticipation, to say the least. So by the time Mike got home from work, the baby was asleep, dinner was on the table, and I was scrubbed and smelling of magnolias and lookin good in my best tye-dye and bell bottoms. My only accessory was one of the marigolds I picked from the front garden and stuck in my hair.... unless you count the painted nails on my bare feet. He walked through the door looking very much like someone who had a wonderful surprise that they just couldn�t wait to share. He was holding something behind his back and grinning from ear to ear. I rushed over to kiss him and begged him to show me what it was (I had already dug out an old canning jar to put the flowers in I just knew I was getting). He told me to close my eyes, which I did, but I could not contain the giggles or keep from bouncing around in anticipation. �Ok, open them.� Ever have one of those moments where your exuberant bubble is just busted in the blink of an eye, yet you are trying desperately not to let your disappointment show? This was one of those moments. In place of the flowers that I was hoping for, was a young adult Boston Bull Dog. Now, you have to understand... I am not a bull-dog type person. I am the miniature or border collie type person, and if I had my �ruthers� and the room, I�d �ruther� have a blonde Labrador. My husband, however, had always, always wanted a Boston Bull Dog, and I just hated those bug-eyed, pug-faced, grunty little dogs. �Ohhhh, thaaaaank youuuuuuu�, (you dog). I tried really hard not to let on, but it wasn�t easy. As we watched the new member of our family search her new surroundings, Mike explained that his great-aunt had had a stroke and would be going to live with a relative and could not take �Peggy� with her, so he brought Peggy home to live with us. Well, at least the baby will be thrilled, so I guess I�ll get over it... someday. But I wouldn�t be getting over it any time real soon. That nasty thing apparently felt it�s purpose for living was to stay as close to my feet as possible and bump it�s cold wet, snotty nose on my bare leg or feet continuously all day long. And to make matters worse, Mike just thought it was soooo cute! A couple of days later Mike called me from work again. �Hiii honeeeey... Guess what? I have another surprise for you!!� Awwwwww! Bless his heart! He must have sensed my disappointment and is going to try and make up for it!!! *siiiiiigh* Now I had guilt for thinking bad thoughts and being so selfish and ungrateful. The day seemed to drag on forever and I was ready and waiting when he got home. Where is it? Where�s my surprise?� He teased me for ages, holding it behind his back and when he had tormented me enough, he surprised me .... big time. �What tha!� Omgod!! Am I in some kind of nightmare here? No, it really was another Boston Bull Dog. My astonishment he interpreted as great joy. �I knew you would be surprised!!!� Well, no ***t. This one was much older, very gray and nearly blind with cataracts. Seems �Gigi� was Peggy�s mama and Gigi had been so, so sad since Peggy had left and his auntie had begged him to take Gigi as well. Lucky me. Now I had TWO dogs that I hated, one who covered me in slime and the other who couldn�t see where she was going so tagged on the other�s tail. Just walking became a trick for me with those two attached to my feet. But they kept the baby entertained for hours. I could put the baby in the automatic swing and they would run back and forth beneath her barking and chasing her feet and she would giggle non-stop for hours. The more she giggled, the more they played. I decided maybe it wasn�t so bad after all and would be worth it to tolerate them for her benefit. Even though they had lots of fun playing with the baby, they both seemed so sad somehow. Sometimes they would lay together and snuggle and whimper. I was suspecting that they were missing their �mama�, Mike�s auntie. Gigi was the most maternal spirit I had ever seen. She hardly let Peggy out of her �sight� and they adored each other... it was almost pathetic. I was beginning to see why they couldn�t be separated. They had been with us about a week when they suddenly disappeared from our fenced yard. The mail man had left the gate open and they escaped. I searched high and low, drove and walked the neighborhood all afternoon and knocked on every door that I was brave enough to knock on. Dang, I hated to tell Mike. He would just be crushed. I called the SPCA to see if they had been put in �doggie jail�, but unfortunately they weren�t there. The next morning, we decided to hang some flyers around the neighborhood, but when that didn�t produce anything after a day or two, we resorted to putting a �missing dog� add in the local newspaper: �Can you please help us? We are lost and can�t find our way home. Our names our Peggy and Gigi and we are female Boston Bull Dogs. If you see us, will you please call our mommy at 555-5555.� The next day we received a phone call from an older couple who said they had Peggy and Gigi and had been taking good care of them. They had seen them walking down the highway and knew they were �lost�. They weren�t lost... they were just trying to go �home� to Mike�s auntie and were on the exact route they needed to be to get there. They had already traveled a couple of miles, and had a couple more to go. Well, I was a goner now. I felt so sorry for them, grieving for their mama and all and I felt pretty much like a uh.... �dog�. And to make matters worse, when Mike�s auntie heard that they had tried to come back home and were grieving for her, she was distraught. So if I tell you that they were pretty much babied and coddled from then on, that would be a slight understatement. They eventually settled in and seemed to accept the fact that they had a new mommy now and I tried very hard to make them not miss her so much. But you could tell it was still hard on Gigi. She was old, and this had set her back some. While Peggy was bouncy and energetic, Gigi was slow and settled. The next summer we noticed that Peggy was �titted out�... we were going to have puppies. Great. Just great. The hussy. Gigi seemed to sense it and she became even more maternal and protective of Peggy. She was acting very, very much like a proud grandmother-to-be. And she stuck to Peggy like glue, even though it was getting harder and harder for her to keep up. One day when we returned from a country drive, Gigi met us at the front gate, alone. Just seeing her without Peggy beside her was strange enough, but she was bouncing up and down and barking and was so excited, she seemed giddy and almost seemed to be giggling. She would run a few steps towards the back of the house, stop and turn to see if we were following, then she would bark and run a few more steps and do the same thing over and over. OBVIOUSLY, we were supposed to go �that-a-way�. We obeyed and followed her. She took us to the back of the house and stood in front of one of the vents and barked and bounced. She finally went under the house and stood and barked. She kept looking back over her shoulder, but it was so dark, we couldn�t see what she was seeing. Mike finally got a flashlight and crawled under there so he could see what she was having a fit about. �Well, I�ll be darn!!!� �What!???� �Peggy has had her pups!!!� Well, NO WONDER!!!! hehehe!! There were four of them. Peggy was ok but tired. But Gigi was simply out of her head with excitement. Peggy was a good mama, but Gigi was in her element. She started acting like a young pup herself. She had a lot more energy, she was eating better, and she didn�t seem sad anymore. She had a new purpose in life. And she was just as proud as proud can be. We kept the pups until well after they were weaned, but we could not afford to feed so many mouths after that and were forced to find them all good homes eventually. It wasn�t hard as they all looked like full blood boston bull dogs, though we know they couldn�t be. Peggy seemed ok with it, but Gigi of course had more of a problem with the puppies leaving. But in her infinite wisdom, she eventually accepted it and turned her focus back onto Peggy, treating Peggy like a little puppy till her dying day. We later moved from that place when we purchased our first small home... a two bedroom, 50�s tract house. Peggy and Gigi came with us, of course and it didn�t seem to bother them at all.. I think they were just glad they got to come with us. The baby was toddling now and Gigi busied herself staying out of her way because she was old and stiff and sore. Peggy though thought it was all just in fun. I soon became pregnant again and late in the summer, at the end of my term, we knew that Peggy was expecting again as well. We had tried to keep the huge German Shepard who came sniffing around, away from her, but when there is a will.. there is a way. I was worried about it because of the contrast in their sizes, but everybody kept telling me not to worry, it wouldn�t be a problem. Vets were a luxury that other people got to indulge in for something like this, not us. We had a family reunion to attend and I was not happy about it. Cooking all day, then standing on my feet in the hot Oklahoma sun all day while trying to chase a toddler about the park and helping with the preparations, huge with child, was not something I relished right about then. But I was anxious for a good, long visit with family and friends, so I dressed as comfortably as possible and �bit the bullet�. After the car was loaded with the baby and all the food, lawn chairs and ice chest, I went to check on Peggy one last time, as she had been acting sluggish. Well, who could blame her. She was about to pop and the heat wasn�t doing her any favors, either. She was lying in the little house that Mike had made for them out of scrap lumber and I was pretty sure she was in labour. I hated to leave her, but Mike finally convinced me she would be ok and maybe we would have puppies when we returned home that evening. It nagged at me all day though, and once during the afternoon, after the dishes had all been put away and the men were playing horseshoes, I snuck back to the house to check on her. She was in labour alright... working at it very hard, and I was worried and upset because she was vomiting clear liquid. It was hard for me to watch, being with child myself, and my heart went out to her. �I wish I could do this for you, Peggy.� I went back to the picnic, crying, and told my Mother about Peggy. �She�ll be ok, Connie. It�s not unusual for them to vomit, you sure did when you were in labour, remember?� And you did just fine.� Funny how Mom�s always know just what to say. But sometimes, even Mom�s are wrong. We didn�t return home until well after dark and I was a nervous wreck by then. We went straight to the dog house and Mike got down on his hands and knees to peek inside. He was down there for ages and I kept asking how Peggy was and if there were puppies yet but he didn�t answer. It seemed forever before he finally said, �Connie, this dog is dead.� �Are there puppies?� �No, but Gigi is in here with her and she won�t let me take her out.� He finally did get her out, but he had to take the roof off the dog house to do it. We kept Gigi in the house with us for the next couple of days and I held her most of the time... well, as much as I could get by with. She quit eating, wouldn�t even drink, she was inconsolable. She scared me once because she was lying in the little bed I had made for her and she didn�t respond right away when I called her name. I squatted down and touched her and said, �Gigi�. She finally looked up at me. Her eyes were so clouded over with the cataracts that she didn�t make real good eye �contact� with you, though she really tried. But this time, when Gigi looked at me, she really saw me. And what I saw in that little dog�s eyes tears me to shreds even to this day. The emotional pain, the unmitigated grief that was there was almost unspeakable. She had that same lost look that my Grandmother had right after Grandfather crossed over. I just said, �Oh my God, Gigi.� She just kept looking at me, her face softened, her expression changing and she seemed to be trying to comfort and reassure ME. She even tried to smile. I went on to get the baby ready for bed and fold the last of the laundry. When I came back to check on Gigi, I found that she had left this world to go be with Peggy, just two days after Peggy had gone.. We were a long time getting over Peggy and Gigi, but life goes on and we soon had another little baby girl to care for. We didn�t have another dog in our family for a long, long time, until that baby girl was toddling and toddled out to the curb and picked up one of the fluffy little Sheltie Collies that somebody had dumped on our street and proclaimed it �mine�. But, that is another story. |