Goodbye Old Friend

Louie and his Uncle Poncho, 2009

I've mentioned Poncho before in Other Stories I've written. I just barely touched on his death in a more recent entry. This is going to be a more difficult story to write, but it is part of our story. Life grows on.

18 year old me, Poncho reluctantly accepts my hug.

I give Poncho big credit for helping me with Louie in so many ways.
First off, you could call Poncho my 'practice dog', and that would be terrible. I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful family who will help pick up the slack during my life's little learning experiences.

I got Poncho when I was 18 and not yet a responsible adult. (Still working on that one, by the way.) I learned from Poncho that if you want an amazing dog, you have to put a ton of work into them. They need MUCH more than food, water, shelter. They need exercise, entertainment and training. They will chew your stuff up, poo on the floor, tear up books and get into the trash if you don't work with them, supervise them and give them enough stimulation.

I thank my dad for helping me raise Poncho. Poncho's amazing obedience was because of my dad. I was working a lot, I didn't have good roommates. I just wasn't really in a position to train a puppy. My dad dog-sat Poncho for me during the day while I was at work for the first year and a half before he just became full time dad's dog. Poncho loved my dad more than anyone, or anything else. They went everywhere together. I would steal Poncho when I went on a camping or hiking trip, but other than that, he stayed by my dad's side from them on.

Time Flies! 
The years went by quickly. A zillion amazing moments. Poncho grew up, I got older. I got a new job, moved a couple of times and got a puppy. Poncho helped show Louie the ropes. There was a lot of running and playing going on and it usually ended with tongues hanging out the sides of dog mouths. I loved it. They loved it. I took Poncho and Louie to the off-leash dog park and let them socialize.The fun never ended.

Poncho went on hunting trips with my dad and brother (appropriately named Hunter) that dogs usually weren't allowed on. They went into the mountains on horseback and camped out for weeks in several feet of snow and Poncho trotted along by their side. He would go to any lengths for his people, and he loved every second of it. A very loyal dog.

Poncho was in seemingly good health.
He was ten years old, so he didn't exactly get around as well as he used to but considering his age he did very well. He had a nice gray beard and was calm and relaxed. That really showed his age, no more hyper puppy that I remember from when he was my dog. He was mature.

He had a check up with the vet and everything seemed up to par. Sometimes we talked about him being an old man, and joked about how he was too old to do stuff, but he still went everywhere with my dad. Everywhere. Either he was by his side off leash or in the truck.

The Day That Came Too Soon.
I was at work and it was about 3:00 on a chilly but sunny February afternoon. My cell phone rang, it was my dad's number. He never called me during the day because he knew I was at work, so I answered the phone felling like something wasn't right. All I heard him say was something like 'Poor Poncho died, I need help.' I don't remember much after that. I drove straight to where my dad was. He was at a job site, a rental house he was working on. I found him on the side of the house, my brother Hunter had just got there too. Poncho was laying on his side in the grass. My dad was kneeling down and bending over him, hugging him and crying. I'd never seen my ultra manly dad cry like that.

I asked my dad what happened? He said they'd just got there, Poncho jumped out of the truck when he got out and went around the side of the house. My dad heard a little yelp and Poncho just fell over. When my dad got to him, he was dead. Heart attack? Most likely. How could this happen so suddenly without some kind of dramatic accident? No blood or gore, no poison or sickness? No warning at all!? Animals can just be fine one second, then fall over and die the next? This couldn't be right. I knew it was, but just didn't seem real. Just like when I'd lost other loved ones. They can't be dead, I just saw them this morning...

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye, to Yesterday.
I made my dad take Louie home with him so he wouldn't be alone and Hunter and I carried Poncho, putting him in the back seat of the car. We drove to my vets office and asked for cremation. I know we did this but it's hard to remember. I was in such shock. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

We drove back to my dad's and stayed with him until my mom could get home. We had just lost a beloved family member of the last ten years. Someone who was there everyday with us. Someone my dad talked to constantly. It hurt me more then anything to think how big of a hole my dad now had in his life. This was going to take a lot to get over.

That was February 2012.
It didn't take long for my husband Paul and I to decide to move and be closer with my parents. My mother stays with my 90 something year old grandmother during the work week about an hour away. My dad was just out there all alone without Poncho. He was very lack-luster and talked about Poncho all the time 'Five more good years, we should have had at least that.' We moved into the house next door by mid July.

Seven Months Later
My dad is finally seeming like himself again, he now has our two dogs he helps with everyday. Plus the cats, pigs, chickens and oh yeah, us! It's never easy losing a pet. We all know that the odds are against them for outliving us. I use this to remind me how lucky every moment I have with my loved ones. I will appreciate what I have while I have it. I will love every dirty paw print, chewed up stuffed animal, and accidental inside diarrhea I clean up. I will love every awful deviled egg fart Louie rips in the car before putting his nose out the window. These moments make me laugh (and gag) and I love it. We are lucky. Tell your loved ones you care.

Louie Meets the Family

Louie looks up to Poncho, literally. 2006

Meet the family

Louie's introduction into our family was interesting. My parents were convinced he was a "Rottweiler or Doberman or whatever those dogs on the news for attacking and killing kids." No he's a lab mix, I always insisted, lab and pit bull.
"Pit bull! That's it, they're the breed that suddenly turn on their owners and rip their faces off."
I would argue how dogs are a product of their surroundings just like children and this breed gets a bad name because people use them for fighting dogs. They have a coolness factor to bad and irresponsible people. The dogs are 'cared for' by people who only want to make the dog tough and mean. This would not be the case in my house. No play fighting, no "Get 'em, Get 'em!" and encouraging chasing cats or fighting dogs. I was raising a nice family dog, just like Poncho.
   

 

Poncho showing off his sock fighting skills and his shiny pink butthole.2002

 
Rewind about four years.

Poncho was an eight week old puppy I brought home from Olympia in 2002. I went to visit a girlfriend and we went to a pet store in Lacey to buy her a fish. There was a man outside with two black puppies. I was looking to get a dog soon, I knew I wanted a black lab. I  had just turned 18 and was sure I'd need a road trip companion soon enough. I looked down at the puppies, one was lying motionless on the cement. The other puppy happily greeted a lady and a little kid who were kneeling down to pet him.

I suddenly spoke sternly toward the puppies "Alright, if one of you stupid puppies wants to come home with me you have to give me a sign." One puppy did not move. The other stopped what he was doing and turned his attention from the lady with the kid. He ran over to me and started pawing at my shins then licking my hands as I bent down to pick him up. "Oh, You no good son of a bitch! Smelly little bastard. Now I have to take this fricken dog home with me? Look at it's stupid face! He doesn't even know anything." The lady glared at me and snatched her kid away. I was full on into my tough guy phase and was not concerned if strangers approved of my use of describing words. I asked the man for details and he said the pups had a chocolate lab for a mom and a blue healer lab mix for a dad, he thought. The puppy was free of charge. I took him back to my car with me.

Poncho and me with my awesome hairdo

I left Olympia later that day. My new puppy, who I called Turbo fondly named after my favorite character from the movie Breakin', sleeping on the front seat of my car the whole way home. By time I was home I decided to call him Poncho, ode to the Townes Van Zandt song Poncho and Lefty. I love Willie Nelson's version of this song.

I was not ready for a puppy. I hadn't put much thought into caring for one. I got home and showed my family. I got a call from a friend soon after letting me know they were hanging out at a nearby house. As quickly as I came in, I left again. Leaving Poncho in bed with my dad, I went out to be with friends and didn't come back for a couple of days.

When I got my own house a couple of months after that I took Poncho with me. I would take him to my dads house for him to stay while I worked. Before you know it, he was my dads dog. He went everywhere with my dad. Dad just worked on rental homes he had so Poncho was always in the truck or exploring someones yard. They were inseparable from then on.

Poncho and Louie playing at my parents house, 2006

Back to 2006

When I got Louie I was sure I was mature enough not to repeat the same mistakes I had made with Poncho. I knew a puppy was a lot of work and very high maintenance. I wasn't as social as I once had been. I liked to stay home, watch movies, go to parks or take drives. All things a dog can join me in. My parents, however, were not so sure I had learned a lesson. "Oh, great now dad's going to have two dogs? We're not taking in a vicious breed."

All these statements were made before they actually laid their eyes on Louie. Things changed quite a bit once they saw him. My dad came over to help me fix the steps to the front porch a few days after I got him. Louie continuously falling through the broken step made me finally fix it after I'd been living with it like that for nearly a year. See, he's already helping me be more responsible.

Poncho came along with my dad of course. Louie was beyond excited to have another dog there. Poncho on the other hand, not so much. Poncho immediately started marking my yard, peeing on every tree and corner as Louie ran behind trying to keep up. By time Louie actually caught him, he was peeing on a tree. Louie walked right through the stream, soaking himself in Poncho's urine. Poncho seemed pretty pleased with this. Now this was his puppy too.

Two happy dogs, Louie and Poncho

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.

It didn't take long for my family to fall in love with Louie. He was just a nice guy. Playful, loving and so eager to please. I had no problem teaching him to sit and he was soon wowing my folks with his hand shaking skills. He always missed the hand the first few times but he kept throwing his paw at you until he would get it.

Louie loved to snuggle, when he was on the bed he'd wiggle his way under the covers and close up next to my body. He always liked to have his head and face covered by the blankets, which I'd never seen a dog do before. Louie did a lot of stuff I'd never seen a dog do before. I just figured it had been a while since I'd been around a clumsy, dopey, happy puppy. There would soon be some glaringly obvious differences between Louie and other dogs that I couldn't explain.

Next Installment:There's Something a Little Off Here