The Beginnings

 

Harvey came into my life almost 12 years ago. He was a 9 month old street dog from Kuwait. City. A blurry photo taken from a Facebook post, copied from emails to texts found its way to me via a friend - and I fell in love. 

I had been without a dog for 18 months or so and I said "why not".  Since he was in another country - half a world awsy - it would be a month or so before he would arrive. I was scared and nervous and second guessing myself. "Have I done the right thing?". "Is this a HUGE mistake?". The self-doubt kept me awake at night.

 I loved dogs and have had dogs in my life since I was little. The Boxer named Frizz that lived next door that I played with when I was 5. Then there was a German Sheperd I found when I was 6. I grabbed him by the collar and led him home under the beleif that dogs should not be running free. He was indeed lost and my parents found his owners and returned him. I was heart broken that I couldn't keep Duke for my own. 

One night, when I was about 10, I was driving with my dad in his van and a full sized collie ran between 2 cars in front of us.  My dad hit the brakes but we struck the dog. He tumbled across the road and laid still. I jumped out of the van and ran to the dog. I put my face next to his as he whined and gasped for air. He died as I held him - my fingers stroking his soft coat deeply shocked by what I had just seen. We found the owners and returned him so they could say goodbye. I went to bed not wanting to talk about it - I wanted to keep the sadness as my own. 

I was 12 when my parents agreed to get me a dog. My father had grown up with an Irish Setter and thought their easy goingness would be a good first dog for me. In March he and I drove through a rainy night to pick her up. We decided to name her Kate and she was stinking cute. My dad had prepared a cardboard box with towels in it for her to ride home in. I sat in the back seat next to her and sneaked her out of the box and onto my lap. My dad noticed she stopped whinning and asked if I had taken her from the box which I denied. I think he knew. She was soft and squirmy and smelled the way a puppy should smell. I was in love. 

About 2 years agter we brought Katie home. my parents it would be a good idea to breed her and have a litter of puppies. Katie grew large and had a littler of 9 puppies. 5 boys and 4 girls. It was mayhem. 9 puppies plus katies and our 4 family members made for a tight household. As the puppies grew, my dad found homes for all of them but decided to keep one little girl - Brydie. About the same time, the owner of the male dog we had bred Katie with contacted my father. He needed to find a home for Bren. His family situation had changed and Brien needed a loving home. My parents said yes. So, then we had 3 adult dogs. Brien was a show dog - an American and Canadian Champion show dog. He won many dog shows and my parents contiued to show Brien until he got too old to show. I don't remember that loss of Katie and Brydie but I remeber going to Brien's kennel and finding he had passed. My mother and I held a somber funeral in the back yead and buried Brien under the apple tree. 

We were then dogless although the house had always beenm overrun with cats. They seemed to find us and my parents were pushovers. At times we had 5 or so cats at any given time as they came and went. Peanut and Alfie - the original 2 remained constant. They lived into their early twenties and passed within days of each other. 

I moved away as did my sister, and my parents kept a number of cats coming and going. My mother got another dog - Willie a Benji-Poo. He was a cool dog who loved me. When I visited we went out and had adventures together. My mom always thought of Willie as a quiet family dog who cuddled with her endlessly. But when I was home we went for huge walkes along the ocean shore chasing seagulls and making new dog friends. Willie would sit by my parents front door and whine in excitement for 15 or 20 minutes before I rrived home for a visit. We had a strong bond and loved each other. Willie had escaped the yeard one day and was struck by a car. He died soon after, and my mother was heartbroken.  She never got over his death.