Recently my family experienced a loss. Our little guard dog, who we have learned to love over the past four years passed away. We got Toby, thinking he was a Dachshund Chihuahua mix that we found on Craigslist for Liam's 6th birthday. He had been begging for a pig, but we were able to convenience him that a puppy would be better.
Toby was tiny. He was whiny, he was a rascal, but luckily for him he was cute. He was cute enough to forgive him when he would make a mess on the floor. He was cute enough that we grew to love him, even when we discovered that he was really a miniature doberman and chihuahua mix and thought he was a full grown adult doberman. We all loved him, but it took Gina the longest of us all to declare him a part of the family. It was not until he saved Gina from a ferocious snake in the driveway (these are her words) that she truly loved him.
Over the next few years, Toby was still scampy and goofy, but we all loved his little face and snuggles. He was always a good escape artist as well, and this became his undoing. A couple of weeks ago, He figured out how to escape from our backyard by tunneling under the fence. He had escaped a number of times before, but always made his way home within an hour or two. This time was different, he was gone all night. In fact he never made it back home. A couple of days later I received a call from a neighbor telling me that there had been an accident the day he escaped, and he had passed away. We were all devastated. Our little scamp has gone. Toby was not coming home. We all cried all evening. It was a terrible scene. Our family was dealing with a loss, unlike anything we had dealt with before. It was especially hard since we had just recently moved across the country and we were still dealing with culture shock and adjusting to our new environment. It was almost like Toby was the glue that was holding us all together.
Each of us dealt with the loss in our own way. My wife cried a lot, Liam cried and the was mopey for a few days. Duncan cried, but then didn't want to talk about it anymore. Crispin, was mad about the whole situation, because I called him at school to tell him about our loss and I ruined his evening. I was very sad, but I turned to the only logical place I could think of for comfort. Pet adoption websites. There were so many sweet adoptable pets, but none of them had the spark and interest for me that I was hoping for. But then it happened. I turned to Craigslist again. The first and only pet listed in our town was a scruffy little dog, that was listed as being "Lovely + Dog" The picture was not very helpful, but I could see a sort of cute look in his eyes. I inquired about him and when I heard his name I was smitten. His name was Elvis. I had to see this dog and see if he would be the thing that would fill the hole in my heart.
After a series of interesting and amusing texts between Gina and I she decided I could go visit the dog and see if his temperament would work with our family. I know this meant he was going to be coming home with us. I was relieved that he was calm and obedient. I was however surprised that the craigslist post stated that he was "Lovely" he was a dog as advertised, but he was one of the ugliest dogs I had seen. He wasn't just a mutt, he was a Maltese Shi Tzu mix. and from my research on them should have been adorable. He somehow got the ugly genes!
But I loved him anyway. I decided to wait the weekend before getting him, and then went for it. I brought home this matted black/white and tan (somewhat too tan in places) dog that smelled to high heavens. I immediately bathed him, and brushed out his coat as much as possible. He was much whiter and much less tan now, but not any more attractive. I decided he would benefit by a good grooming, but I am way too cheap to take him to a groomer, so I decided to do it myself. I went and invested in the equipment need to groom this dog (yes, it was more than I would have paid to have him groomed in the first place) and proceeded to watch YouTube videos on how to groom a dog.
For my first attempt, I think I did great. I was able to successfully remove most of, if not all of the matted spots from his legs and underside, and trimmed up everything else pretty well too. Elvis was on his way to becoming presentable, still ugly, but not in dire need of attention. And to top it off, He and I bonded over the grooming experience. He loves me. He loves me so much, now that he will not leave me alone, and howls whenever I leave him in his crate. He follows me everywhere I go. I have decided that this is going to be a great thing. He and I are going to go on long walks. I'm going to get in better shape because of this ugly dog named Elvis.
Now we wait to see how each family member bonds with this ugly dog. Gina has already said it is going to take her a while to love him, but then yesterday she took him for a walk. I could see it in her eyes, she wants to bond with him too! Good times are ahead. Even though we experienced a major loss, we are resilient and we can move forward. And nothing helps us move past the pain like an ugly dog!
JCS
