Rest in Peace, babyman
March 14, 2002
He was skin and bones, literally .. had ticks the size of my pinky finger on him .. almost no hair .. and he was scared ~ he had obviously been beaten, regularly, and dumped ..
I immediately started leaving food out for him ~ he wouldnt come near me, but he would eat what I left out .. a few times he would eat out of my hand, but not often .. my heart went out to him .. he was so sad .. and I tried often to get him to come close enough so that I could snatch him up and take him home ..
Finally, right before thanksgiving, I had an idea ~~ I would take my dog, Harley (5 yo female) to work with me in an attempt to get the stray to come home with me .. it worked, as he fell in love with Harley immediately .. I took him home and named him Davidson (of course) .. he was the first boy dog I had ever had .. my little babyman ..
I took him to the vet .. had him de-flea'd, de-ticked, de-wormed, had him vaccinated and had his heartworm shot given .. I put him on PetsMart's Medical plan along with Harley, bought tons of puppy stuff ~~ the vet said he couldnt be more than 6 months old ~~ and left for my house ..
He really didnt like being inside .. he was used to doing his 'dog thing' anywhere, anytime .. and he did .. all over my house .. I couldnt crate him ~ Im gone 14+ hours a day .. I couldnt give him to the humane society ~ he was growing on Me .. so I took the suggestion of my co-workers, ok'd it with my vet and took him back to Cushing ..
He lived in my little shack ~ I left the door open for him every night .. We spent every weekday together .. 10-12 hours a day .. I made sure he always had food and water and he had a little blanket from my house to sleep on along with an old sweatshirt ..
He started gaining weight .. he grew in a full coat of red hair .. played with anything that he could possibly find ~ from the toys I brought to the trash he hunted down .. he was happy ..
I found my Davey boy dead this morning ..
Every morning when I drove into work, he was always there ~ sitting by the gate, waiting patiently for me to drive up in the truck .. he would greet me by jumping all over me, laughing that dog laugh and trying to lick my face ..
This morning when I got to work, there was no Davey waiting for me .. I was worried, but he had done this once before and came trotting back to see me later in the morning .. this morning felt different .. he usually didnt wander off .. so I asked a few of the guys to keep their eyes out for him in case he found something dog-like to get into at the site ..
30 mins roll by and still no Davey .. for some reason unbeknownst to me, I decided to walk out onto the road and look for him a bit (I couldnt leave My gate) .. as soon as I stepped out into the road I saw him .. not even 50 feet away .. he didnt wander off after all ..
I walked to him, saying his name .. he was still warm, but obviously gone .. I petted his face, told him I was sorry and walked back to my shack ~ I couldnt leave him there .. I grabbed his blanket ~ the one he slept on .. the one he used to bury his food .. since there was no dirt in the shack, he would nose the blanket until it covered his food bowl, saving it for later ~ and walked back out to him .. I wrapped him in his blanket, still apologizing, and carried him back to my shack .. I felt something cold on my leg and when I laid him down I looked down and realized I had his blood all over Me, from my shirt to my boots ..
The guys were very sympathetic .. they all loved him even though he wouldnt come near them .. he would only be with me ~~ he let a few ppl pet him, but not many and not often ~~ they said they would get a backhoe and bury him there (in a spot that would go untouched by the construction) since that had always been his home ~ where he was the happiest .. I didnt stay for that .. I said goodbye, apologized again, told him he was a good boy and went home ..
He was beautiful boy ~~ he looked like the Tramp from Lady and the Tramp .. except he had red hair ~ with white paws, a white chest, a white stripe from his nose to his head and just enough white on the tip of his tail to make it look like it had been dipped in white paint .. beautiful brown eyes .. an infectious dog-smile, a scraggly white beard and a foo-man-choo mustache ..
He was such a good boy ~~ he fetched, he sat, he laid, he guarded me as best he could .. he would lay at my feet ~ either to be close to me or the heater, only he knew ~ he would jump up to give kisses all the time .. he liked to rough house and wrestle .. but mostly he loved to walk in btween my legs, sit down and put his chin on my lap looking at me..
I know it was only four months .. and I know he was 'only a dog' .. but that doesnt mean shit right now .. it felt like years and he was my baby boy.. I miss him so much ..
I love you Davey.
