TheBanyanTree: Because Paul Asked Nicely

[Jeri Xiques]

Loved your story, Pammie...glad you and Axel finally have each other!  I
had wondered about his scars; now I know he had been abused.



On Sat, Nov 28, 2015 at 9:54 AM, Monique Colver <monique.colver at gmail.com>
wrote:

> We love us our dogs, don't we?  Nice story.
> On Nov 28, 2015 4:46 AM, "Pam Lawley" <pamj.lawley at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The older I get, the more I love my dog...
> >
> > Seriously.  As an 'adult' I've had a few pets, but now I don't think
> that I
> > ever really gave them ME.
> >
> > When I was married to my children's father, we drove from North Carolina
> to
> > New Hampshire to rescue a Newfoundland - for him.  He'd had some before
> and
> > wanted another.  DeeDee was living in rescue on a farm and became just
> > another horse.  She ate carrots and apples whole!  If the horses got one,
> > she wanted one as well!
> >
> > She'd had her vocal cords cut and I was appalled!  How in the world could
> > somebody do that to a big dog?!  (I've since owned big dogs who barked
> and
> > while I wouldn't do that, I can see why somebody could.)   It's not like
> > she was a 'yappy' Chihuahua, right?!?!  So DeeDee had a gruff sounding
> > squeak.  And she became MY dog...  I was pregnant with Molly and smoking
> on
> > the sly.  Every evening we'd go for a walk with the cigarette that I
> > sneaked out of the house.
> >
> > (Side note:    looking back now I don't see how he didn't know I was
> > smoking, or maybe he just chose to pretend... anyway)
> >
> > She attached herself to me and I loved her.
> >
> > And then I did a tour on the Drill Field.  That involved schooling in
> South
> > Carolina and then a move to Parris Island.  My husband came down to the
> > class behind mine and we began 2 1/2 years of long hours at work.  DeeDee
> > was not impressed as it turns out.  Our house had a screened in back
> porch
> > and she crashed through it more than once.  She absolutely didn't like
> > being left alone and so we decided to move her back to NC to live with my
> > sister.  She only lived another year, and when she died my sister had her
> > buried in the local pet cemetery.
> >
> > (Another side note:  nobody buries their pets there anymore and that
> strip
> > of ground is pretty overgrown.  There are apartments built next door and
> > you have to know that it was there to know it is there.  Recently my
> sister
> > was in town [because now she's moved away and I've moved back] and she
> went
> > in search of DeeDee's grave.  She had to find somebody to ask, and
> > eventually she located it - and texted me a photo!  In the 20 years since
> > I've been back, after initially visiting, I don't remember even stopping
> > there again.)
> >
> > While married to my second husband, we 'adopted' a Great Dane.  Mr.
> Banks.
> > Technically, it wasn't an "adoption", but a woman had him listed in the
> > paper for $100 because he needed a new home since she was going to breed
> > Chihuahuas!  whatever.)
> >
> > Banks was awesome and behaved and quite the gentleman.  But when that
> > divorce happened, he went with his dad.  Eventually I got visitation, and
> > the morning that he went to be put down, I got to hug him good-bye.
> >
> > I 'loved' those dogs and I was sad to see them go, but... maybe because
> > there was already physical distance between us?!  I really didn't grieve
> > for them?  I'm not sure how to explain it.
> >
> > My third husband (yes!  don't judge!!) and I got another Great Dane.  He
> > had them growing up, and of course I'd experienced the breed as well.
> > Annie was a great dog, even if she was neurotic and anxious!  When she
> was
> > a couple of years old we got a second Dane.  He was adorable and sweet -
> > and a total spaz!  So when THAT marriage broke up (don't judge!!), we
> each
> > kept a dog, and I got Annie.
> >
> > Annie was a stay-at-home kind of dog - she freaked in cars and was afraid
> > to even jump in.  If we went somewhere, I had to help her up.  I had
> > visions of us hanging out together and going places, but she wasn't
> having
> > any of that!  But evidently, while staying home and taking walks, we must
> > have seriously formed some kind of bond.
> >
> > In January of this year I found out that she had an aggressive form of
> bone
> > cancer that would spread.  We discovered this when a big lump formed on
> her
> > 'ankle'.  She'd been limping and it didn't go away with 'routine' meds.
> We
> > tried that first because x-rays would involve the trauma of putting her
> > under to get her to the machine.  And she HATED the vet's office and the
> > car ride to get there.
> >
> > I decided I wouldn't put her through the additional trauma of having her
> > leg amputated only to add a year.  It would have been a year of vet
> visits
> > and learning to walk without a front leg (she was a 150 pound Dane)...  I
> > couldn't prolong her life just to keep me happy.  We decided to continue
> a
> > vigorous course of meds and just wait.
> >
> > The wait wasn't long.  A week later she ran the fence line playing with
> the
> > neighbor's Chihuahua (I have typed that word three times in this post!!!)
> > and (we think) broke the fragile bone that was cancerous.  Because then
> she
> > could put no weight on her leg and was hopping around on three.  So I
> made
> > the decision.  Arrangements were made for the vet to come to our house,
> and
> > my sister came with her friend whose business is pet cremations.  They
> were
> > going to take Annie with them.
> >
> > That day I finally GOT IT.  I held my trembling dog (because she knew who
> > the vet was the minute she walked in and the shaking started!!) in my
> arms
> > while the drugs were administered, and I petted her as she took her last
> > breaths.  And *I* was traumatized...  I cried for days when my puppy
> > died...
> >
> > And immediately made the decision to get another dog!!  By then it was
> just
> > me in the house and there was plenty of room for a puppy who needed a
> home
> > and a mom!
> >
> > I have a great friend (who I actually met twenty-some-odd years ago on
> the
> > Spoon!) who met Banks and fell in love with the breed and who has
> herself,
> > in the years since, adopted a few!  And now she knows the women who run
> the
> > Rescue in the western part of the state!  (What goes around...)  She put
> in
> > a good word for me and they allowed me to adopt!  Who-hoo!!
> >
> > A month to the day that Annie died, I went to Charlotte and adopted Axel.
> > What a sweet, sweet boy!!  He came into rescue from an abusive situation
> > and he has the scars to prove it.  But he is my shadow.  He LOVES a car
> > ride and 'loads up' on command and would rather go and wait in the car
> than
> > stay home!!  He loves a walk, he loves a nap, and he loves his mom!
> >
> > What he doesn't like is to be left alone.  I think it makes him a little
> > anxious.  So he paces the house and "rearranges" stuff.  If I leave
> > something on the kitchen counter, then I'm probably going to find it on
> the
> > floor in the bedroom or the living room.  Loaf of bread?!  Bag of
> > potatoes?  Empty cake taker?  Moved.  I try very hard to remember to keep
> > the counters clear and hide anything I can't put away.
> >
> > Or he'll chew the backs off of picture frames.  he's probably gotten a
> > dozen of them!  I used to have shelves with an eclectic assortment of
> > photos and frames all over the house.  I recently had cause to do some
> > redecorating and all that's changed now.  I gotta remove the temptations!
> >
> > Yes, he has a crate.  And baskets full of toys and chew bones.  He just
> > prefers frames thankyouverymuch!!
> >
> > Maybe because my kids are grown and moved out, maybe because I've gone
> > through all the husbands I'm going to, but my life is now all about my
> > dog.  If I can't take Axel I really don't want to go.  He has to be home
> > alone all day while I work and I hate to leave him in the evenings at
> all.
> > We LOVE the cool weather because it means he can go.  The hot summer
> > sucked!!
> >
> > Anyway.... I really love this dog...
> >
> > Pam
> >
>