02:58 Jul 03 2011
Times Read: 2,171
I had the TV running in the background, just letting it keep me company till I notice the puppy. Always a lover of dogs I started to watch the movie called Marley and Me. And at the end I am sitting here crying my eyes out.
It reminds me of our dog called ShePuppy. She came into our life from a rental house that the couple left, leaving this cute collie mix puppy behind. On a snowy day my mother sent my father to go get the dog, curled up on the step of the kitchen door, waiting still to be let in, not understanding the people who were his family had left him. It is sad that I see this often, people leaving cats and dogs as they move away. Still breaks my heart.
She came home with the understanding that she was not to stay as I, with doctor test to back this up, was allergic to dogs. But this dog was smart; she was such a beautiful puppy. Small, those brown eyes, and she was a player. She knew to stand outside during the rain, leaving the dog house my father put in the yard for her, looking all sad till my mother would let her in. “Stupid dog doesn’t even know when to get inside her house.” was her common commentary as I would sit on the floor, drying her off, my Dad trying to get her to come to him on the couch.
My dad was always a dog lover, a patient man from heaven as he dealt with the three cats I had during those “allergic to dogs” years. He could not take the puppy off his chain as it would just start us playing, and I am sure my Mother had threaten him to not be attached to the dog as it was leaving as soon as a good home was found.
Words never ran truer then with that puppy. Time frame was during my dating time before I got married, just out of high school and the only one at home with Mom, Dad and my brother at the time. I would come home, pulling into the drive, and there would be that dog.
On cold nights the light that my brother put into her house to heat it would light her doghouse up like a UFO. It was so strange and to this day brings such a smile to my face. Coming home from a date night- She would demand a pet from me on the way in, so sweet, looking so forlorn and alone. The bad child that I was, I would unchain her most nights and sneak her into the house, where everyone else was asleep. She would lie at the bathroom door as I undress, got ready for bed. On to the foot of the bed, where we would sleep till my Dad would come and push my door in a little, telling me to wake up, work was in an hour.
ShePuppy would jump down, whip herself out of that little crack in the doorway, and go find him. “What is that dog doing in here? How did you get in? You are not to be inside the house.” You could hear the hidden joy in his words as the dog would go into the kitchen with him, the only one willing to be up and awake. The dog had her own spot under the table for years, next to Dad’s chair. I had years of waking up to him opening my door, not to wake me up, but to get the dog to join him. It got to the point that she would hear him come into the living room, and she went out to meet him.
You might wonder about my allergies- I had none. I kept the house cleaned, and my sheets washed two or three times a week per my Mothers rules if the dog stayed inside. It seemed to work.
But my father wasn’t the only one under the puppies spell. She got her name as my mother refused to let us name the dog. When people would comment on how beautiful he was I would say “It’s a she, not a he. She Puppy” She lived with that name all her life.
At work she had twin duties. In the office she sat beside my mother’s office chair, a soft bed added in her later years. She was a great guard dog, making more then a few truck drivers back up as they step to close to my Mom. I also remember her almost biting a work hand that was angry at me, saying a few words in anger, coming toward me in a threatening way. She attacked, and he kicked at her. That ended with the police called, the dog standing between me and him till they arrived.
I remember the times I sat across from my Mother at her desk, eating lunch with her, the puppy sitting behind her in her chair, getting a few bites hand feed to her. Yes- this was the woman who wanted to give the dog away. But I know it was only for me that she was trying to be a hard ass, and ending to be the dogs most beloved person.
I remember Dad taking her in the trucks to the truck stops, repair shops, parts places. She was well known in town, and I had my own trips with her. I went out to the truck stop to fuel up a packing van and left the windows down a little to give her air. She would stare at the door you went in, till you came back out. Seems she, for what ever reason that day, got down into the floor board of the truck as I went to pay the bill for the gas. I looked outside to see a male yanking his arm out of the truck, She Puppy teeth at his wrist. I ran out, yelling at the man. He threaten to call the police as the dog attacked him, and I was more then happy to have that done. My purse was on the floor board, he was reaching for it.
Funny… seems that dog had the police called on her a lot. Lol
I remember the time my parents was going in the mobile home to a local fair, taking the dog and leaving the rest of us. We were not invited. I remember my Father picking her up, lifting her in and out of the trucks as she grew too old to jump. I remember sitting, fully dressed, in the tub pouring beer down her throat as we feared she had drunk antifreeze when we has a leak, and she was not watched like a hawk. I remember asking for her when I got married, to take to my home, and being told no. Seems my parents that day had decided the dog belonged to them, not to me that had to bath, feed, walk, clean up after her all those years as part of keeping ‘that’ dog.
I also remember the day we put her to sleep. For 18 years she was with us, the last few years barely able to walk, ironically she dealt with her kidneys failing due to medicine given to her for her own allergies and skin issues. She also had cancer, removed in a mass from her hip during those years.
Me and my sisters went to the vet with her, my dad refusing to go, instead saying good bye and going to work that day. My Dad never did show emotions much, something I have taken after him it seems. It is only years later that I understood how painful it would have been for him, this is how he was able to handle it. I remember going to get the Tupperware tote that was to be her coffin. I remember the blanket, the toys, the hugs and kisses. I walked in the last, bring in the items, my sisters already there. She lifted her head, looking at me on that cold stainless table, the IV hooked up giving her pain medicine. I remember kissing her as her tail beat the table, knowing she was happy to see me. I said goodbye to my puppy, telling her wait for me in heaven, we would be together again soon. And I remember her chest stop moving, her breath easing then stopping. I remember helping my brother shovel the dirt on her grave.
I also remember telling my father as I stood beside his hospital bed to tell She Puppy and Hannaha, another dog we loved and lost, hello for me when he say them. I can see them- She Puppy in her little glory bossing the big retriever, Dad throwing a tennis ball to them as he sits under a shade tree.
What is it about dogs? They show love, unconditionally, whole hearted. They don’t judge you, yell at you, and expect much from you but food, water, walks, playtime and hugs. They don’t care what you wear, they listen when you talk, put their heads on your lap when you cry. There is not love like that of a dog.
And I never loved or been loved like I had been with She Puppy. She is my Marley and I wanted to put that in words, share her with you. She can never be forgotten, removed from my heart. I have stop crying, the good times of our life together helping. And writing this to honor her, our bond.
Miss and love you little She Pup. Always.
COMMENTS
-
Sulks
19:29 Jul 31 2011
Maggie Thatcher isn't so good to relax to on a Sunday. Have a nice day ;)
PandorasBx
19:41 Jul 31 2011
Smutty is always good ;)
BLOODLIFE
19:48 Jul 31 2011
Just hope you have a great Sunday.
Requiem
20:09 Jul 31 2011
I really do like a good trash novel every once in a while. :) GO SMUT!
Elemental
20:28 Jul 31 2011
You're reading? .......faints.....grins......
Vampirewitch39
20:34 Jul 31 2011
Haha... I read when I am in the mood. If you take into account online reading.. I do it every day, thank you very much Birdy. :P
Yes- just in the mood for smutty.
RedQueen
12:19 Aug 01 2011
What's the other book?