furry friends – Living, Loving, Laughing….

Today is special. We have a Mom in Show. Whose Mom? My Mom. I don’t mean show biz. Although she did tour with Sound of Music in the summers of college. But another kind of show. Dog Shows.

It all started when the boys were fairly young, ages 7 & 9-ish, Mom got them a bloodhound puppy. They named her Rose Marie. Her floppy ears, clumsy giant steps, soulful sad eyes, and wrinkled skin captured our delight. Nose to the ground she could find you. Every time. She was faithful, loyal, and very funny.

The desire to raise a bloodhound stemmed from the movie Where the Red Fern Grows. We lived in the country and it was a natural fit for our family. Rosie was loved. Oh, was she loved. She protected the boys and was their best bud for all her life.

Mom fell hard for the bloodhound breed. Our childhood pet spawned a breeding of many puppy litters, not just as pets, but as champions. It was NOT a puppy mill. Only one litter at a time. They were cared for and housed, hand fed, handled, socialized, and adopters were thoroughly screened. More often than not, they were rejected as not being good enough.

She was strict and ruthless. Her puppies were her babies. They deserved the best. The hardest part of this breed is their life span. They only average 8 years – 10 at the most. That means since we started with bloodhounds over 32 years ago, we’ve had many furry friends to love and their puppies and their puppies.

Mom entered the dog show world. I could be wrong, but the first one I believe was a bloodhound named Choco. Mom got an RV with Choco’s pictured pasted in the back window. Viva la dog show! He was a liver colored bloodhound, not your typical black and tan, or red. I think he did pretty good.

As things progressed and she learned the show rules, circles, and techniques – we entered Championship. The prize of showmanship. I don’t remember if Choco was a champion or not but I do remember the first bloodhound that was. She was a champion before she left puppyhood. Her name was Peaches. She was a unique liver colored as well.

I was about fifteen years old when mom brought her home. She almost looked like a Sharpei with wrinkles EVERYWHERE. Ohmygosh, she was a doll. I loved her so much until she chewed up several of my favorite pairs of shoes. Mom, I KNOW. I should have shut my door. My bad.

For Peaches, we traveled by RV from Oklahoma to Portland Oregon for the mother of all bloodhound shows. The National Championship. It was a trip from ~~hell~~ heck. My brother and his friend, me and an exchange student from France in VERY tight irritating quarters. Not to mention the RV broke down EVERY STATE. No lie. I loved Idaho and Wyoming though.

But we all survived. Peaches did well. All the teens skied Mount Hood. I think we made it back to Oklahoma in one piece, or at least without breaking down. Then we sold the ~~money pit~~ RV.

When I was nineteen, just mom and I traveled to New York City. She had entered the biggest, most prestigious dog show in the world. Westminster. Let me tell you, what you see on TV is nothing like the back stages. It’s wall to wall dogs, grooming, handlers, owners, stands and crates. What you see at the end is the culmination of all the exhausting shows that day, which end up with ONE winner IN the main show. That’s ONE out of HUNDREDS, not to mention HOURS of grooming, ring circling, and judging.

We were pretty beat up by show time. I felt pretty out of place, all ragged, with people in formal wear watching this show. But WOW, we were in NEW YORK! And no, her dog didn’t win. She didn’t get to be in the show at the end. But what an experience. I think it’s something all show people strive for, to take part in Westminster just once.

Mom has mostly retired from showing (haven’t you mom?), but she does rescue for the Bloodhound Club. Here is the website with all her beautiful animals that fill her life and bring her joy. As much as she loves to care for them (and save them), they would LOVE their own home. If you know of anyone, please pass on this link. One of my favorites right now is Oh Baby, part mastiff, part bloodhound. He is truly a gentle giant. But really, they are all very special. Do check them out.

Tri State Bloodhound Rescue

I learned a lot from mom and the dog shows. How to care and love an animal with all your heart. How to meet new people, socialize, and make connections. How to see the world from all angles, the triumphs, and the losses. But mostly, I learned – if you love something – follow your dreams.

Happy Birthday Mom! Not only are you Mom in Show you are Best in Show. I love you tremendously!!

Showing her winning breed.

Mom with her Champion Sally.

Oh, and mom….remember that little birthday present you “rescued”. Our best estimate of her birth is around the same time as yours. This one?

Anna puppy April 2008

A very small Anna that fit in my hand.

Anna Foursocks Elizabeth – born March 24, 2008 – Happy Birthday to Anna too! Thank you mom for your serving soul. If you hadn’t saved her. I wouldn’t have the entertainment she brings, and the sweet snuggles she endears.

Another reflection of you, another gift of life that you offer so freely to others by reaching out to the unwanted with open arms. I am forever grateful you were born to be my mother.

First off, I have to tell you how much I love animals. ALL creatures. Big and small. My biological dad is an animal buff and my mom is the crazy dog lady she has 24dogs right now!(yes I am worried the animal cops are coming).

I have a hard time killing bugs, yes even spiders, caterpillars ,grub worms, frogs, mice(edit-biting ants and mosquitos don’t count!). God forbid an animal dart out in front of my car and I don’t miss it! I’ve only hit a squirrel once and that was saaaad. I say all that so you know, that what I write about my animals it is from a very soft heart.

My first dog I ever bonded with was my girl Salem. She is a pure bred female black lab she will be 7 yrs old in September. Her full name is Salem Dixie Elizabeth. And she is a HOSS. Her Dad was and she got his figure. That chick is 88lbs!

I was working from home when she arrived. We spent every moment together. I’d look into her sweet face and just melt! I had never fallen for a dog before. She’d lay at my feet all day and sleep in her crate next to me all night. We had our bout of puppy trails but really it wasn’t tooo bad. I mean I didn’t need that rosemary plant she gobbled up out of my garden right?? I’m sure it was mighty tasty.

She turned out to be a GREAT dog. SO smart! I taught her to sit, roll over, lay down, stay, speak and the best one…hi-five both paws!!! It’s the coolest thing. Slap me some skin Salem! HAHA

I even bought my car in 2006 with her in mind. I got one with four doors instead of two so she could hang her head out the window. Tongue wagging and her eyeballs bugging as she blinks her eyes in the wind. Too funny to miss out on that. Ahhh the sweet life of a dog! To this day I can hardly leave her and do take her with me everywhere I can.

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Salem out window

My second dog was a complete accident. My MOM, the dog collector, had found a puppy. Supposedly, the story goes that a man had a box of puppies that he brought up to garage sale and asked if he could leave them for people to take if they wanted one. Well the owner guy said, “Uhhh NO”. The guy took his box and off to the woods he went where he promptly dumped them to die in the night by coyotes or any other wild animals around.

The next day my mom went back to said place and looked for the puppies. She found ONE. An itty bitty size of my hand black puppy with white on her paws. She took it home (of course!). That happened to be the weekend I came home to visit. I saw in the front yard in a crate this darling puppy. Awwwwh.

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Puppy Anna 1st day I met her

Now honestly WHO can resist a sweet little puppy and when I looked in her face OMYGOSH it was Salem’s face. Still! I didn’t want or need a puppy! No to potty training, no to chewing , no ,no ,no ,no. But on that day I couldn’t bear to leave another dog at my mom’s. I couldn’t do it (hangs head). She came home with me. Anna Foursocks Elizabeth was entered into the household.

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Me & Anna
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Anna at home on Salem’s bed

Well, Salem thought it was her baby. She licked her, cleaned her, and corrected her. She was such a good mommy! (still is) Anna grew and grew. We discovered she was not black lab at all, but mostly GREYHOUND. So very skinny , very skitsy, very nervous and shy, but really a sweet ,sweet dog. I only changed her name a few times. She was BAD BABY, MISTAKE, PAINFUL, STUPID DOG.

It was a challenge. She wore me out, was hard to potty train, and is not nearly as smart (she ATE the carpet!) as Salem. BUT she is a joy! She is charming, playful, and we have had a lot of laughs watching her chase and CATCH her own tail (ok that was really funny!).

Nowadays, she really is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met. A very grateful dog (like she knows she was abandoned and saved). She always lifts her head as if to thank me when I put her food bowl down. I have to pet her head before she will eat. She also lays her head on my chest and just lets me hug her. She is my cuddle bug. God knew I really needed that.
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Anna
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Anna and Salem

So then enters my third pet, who wasn’t physically mine, nor was she legally mine in any way. She is my boyfriends dog. But she and I bonded immediately upon meeting. She is forever in my heart. Her name is Cooper Marie. She is eight yrs old. I got her a purple football and that was our thing, as soon as I’d see her, she’d run and get that purple football! It has a spot to put treats. She eagerly waits for me to fill it up, then off she’d run with it – bouncing. That dog ALWAYS bounced. She was so happy, so beautiful, and so very very dear to me.

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Me and Cooper

Her and Salem had somewhat of a cease alpha when together (SOMEwhat), but she found her best friend in the whole wild world with Anna.

Anna and her were inseparable; they had the same puppy spirit. They played from minute one. Cooper lost weight. She gained LIFE. She was happier. She was livelier. If I visited her without Anna she would look and look for her. After awhile, she’d run and get her purple football. *funny she wouldn’t get it if you said get your football you had to say PURPLE football*

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Cooper and Me with her favorite purple football.

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Anna, Cooper, and Salem playing three way tug

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Anna and Cooper playing

On her last day in this world I petted her head, leaned down, kissed her saying, “I love you , Cooper. You are a gooooood dog.”

Later, when she was outside we chased each other up and down the hill in the back. Who would have thought she’d be so spry with her white muzzle, slightly stiff hips, and her fat tumors? In that moment she was ONE year old! Happy , playing , running – LOVING life – can’t we all hope we go on a day that was so spectacular in spirit?

What happens to her is a terrible , terrible event and it’s very hard for me to recount but I also think it’s necessary for anyone who might believe she died without her loved ones surrounding her, pouring their hearts into her very soul.

We were going to watch a movie. Four of us. Cooper’s Dad, me, and my daughter, and her boyfriend. We were all right in front of the TV. Salem was laying down. Anna and Cooper started to play (like they ALWAYS did for almost a year!). But something went terribly wrong. Anna jumped up really high (greyhound remember?). She came down with her mouth open near Cooper’s neck (play biting) her jaw slipped through the space between her collar and neck.

When she came right side up she knew she was caught and tried to twist away. From that angle, it actually twisted her lower jaw tightly around Cooper’s collar cinching it tight. Anna was upside down. Cooper was laying on her belly upright and they were tightly wound together. The collar was biting into Anna’s lower jaw.

Think of it like putting your finger against your skin under a bracelet, then twist it around. That’s how they were caught.

How do I know this? I was RIGHT THERE. I saw it happen. Immediately her Dad and I went to them to try and free them. After a moment we quickly realized they were stuck. It was the oddest thing I had ever seen.

We were not panicking. Surely, we just untwist them, or unlatch them. Anna was scared stiff, freaking out, and trying to get away causing her to tug at Cooper. We were trying to keep them still so we could see how they were hung maybe just untwist them. How many times was Anna twisted around and which way do we turn her.

Cooper started to drool. We realized she was not getting enough air. That’s when our inspection turned to PURE panic. “WE HAVE TO GET THE COLLAR OFF!!!” The collar would not simply pull off. It was too tight for one. For two, it was all slippery from her slobber.

“OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO. Please get them loose. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!”

In that moment, I couldn’t think about Anna I just wanted Cooper LOOSE—PLEASE. Jason tried to get pliers to pull it up enough to get the prong out of the collar but that didn’t work.They just slippped off – useless. Anna had gone stone still in our panic.

I got some scissors squeezed in that tight spot under Cooper’s collar at her neck but they WOULD NOT CUT!!!
“NOOOOOOOOOO NO! NO! NO! PLEASE CUT! PLEEEEEEEEEASE!!!”

He got something to saw at it but it wasn’t cutting the collar through. Her eyes began to close.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE NO! Something HAS TO WORK. IT HAS TO! THIS CAN’T BE REALLY HAPPENING! Not her, not Cooper.”

Jason was working feverishly , desperately. I found another pair of scissors. I got them under the collar. They WOULD NOT CUT EITHER. ”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO NO NO.”

The tears, the panic, the helplessness, MY GOD PLEASE. I went to the knife block. I took them all out. Which would work without cutting off our hands or their limbs??? Or a fatally stab us around moving dogs. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE . I didn’t know which one.

Finally, Jason grabbed a steak knife. I got Anna untwisted one time around (praying it was the right way), he had just enough space to cut through collar. THEY WERE FREED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But she collapsed, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO NO NO. GOD NO.”

He carried her outside he put water on her face. He gave her some air. He did mouth to mouth. He begged to breathe. PLEASE BREATHE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BREATHE. But she didn’t. She never breathed again. That precious baby was gone.

He laid flat on the ground his arms around her and sobbed. I cried too. Great gulping helpless, shocked tears. I was devastated for his loss. Clueless to how painful it must be. I felt like my baby puppy had murdered his best friend of almost 9yrs. His children’s playmate.

It was utterly devastating. I would have traded both of my dogs (even precious Salem) for her life back. I will never forget one single moment of our fight. Not one moment of us trying SO HARD to save her life. And we failed. We failed her. The grief is not measurable.

No matter what we did, it didn’t matter, in an instance she was gone.

His mother and brother came over. We carried her to the car. We took her to the 24hour vet clinic. I watched him at the back of the car. He pet his dog, his friend, crying before he carried her into the clinic. I cried with him.

I watched as he held her in his arms face in her blanket, petting her until they put her on a gurney wheeling her away. My God the PAIN of that. The heart wrenching agony. It ripped us both open.

I still miss her. There is not a moment that I don’t miss her. That I don’t cry for his loss. She was such a gooood gooood dog. His house is not the same without her. It’s very empty. It’s very quiet.

Please get your dog a quick release collar. Never miss an opportunity to pet them and tell them how much you LOVE them. Tell them with your heart not just your words.

Anna did not kill her, nor did he, nor did myself. As much as I tried to blame myself, even for just being his girlfriend, introducing the two dogs. It was not anyone’s fault.

It was a terrible, terrible accident. A terrible, terrible tragedy. I believe something would have cut that collar off, would have worked if it hadn’t been her time. I THANK GOD only my daughter witnessed it and not his two small children, who would have been traumatized for life. God is Good. He really is.

My tribute to Cooper: A poem I wrote and pet memorial.

CLICK HERE FOR PET MEMORIAL OF COOPER

Loving a dog is the most beautiful thing in the world. It WILL bless your life. No matter how it ends. To love someone so unconditionally is a gift from God.