Kerouac

 

Kerouac camei nto my life in the spring of 1997. The husband of a girl I worked with, found him living on McArthur in Kamloops. He was working for the parks department and started seeing him coming around once in a while. They threw him sandwich crusts as he was pretty hungry. This went on for a while and one day they found he had climbed into their truck through an open door. He didn't try to get away when they came back. He seemed resigned to the fact that he needed help. Ian took him home although they already had a dog. Their dog, Rudy, was a pitty rotty cross and was nuts. He was a good dog, but he had a hard time controlling his excitement. Sometimes, this was mistaken for agressivness. They were concerned for the stray with Rudy so they asked if I could keep him for a while. Of course, I said sure. I was living alone with Mali at the time and a second dog would maybe entertain Mali while I was away at work. 

Mali and Kerouac became best friends right away. He was such an easy going boy. I took him to the vet and we found no tattoos or identifying marks. I scoured the imternet and vet clinics seeing if someone was looking for him. He was un neutered, so I had him fixed right away. He was a shepherd cross and about 55 pounds. He was calm and loving and loved having a home. He and Mali played continuosly. So much so that my backyard grass was worn through to dirt. I didn't mind. I always said that the backyard was the dog's room and play area. We did everything together. We hiked and rode bikes and swam in the river. It was perfect. Until it wasn't.

Mali was about 4 years old now and she wanted and needed more space so I resigned myself to asking my ex-wife to take her. Sheila was living on the island and had a large yard. The weather was also more suited to Mali who suffered in the hot Kamloops summers. She agreed and I said goodbye to my brown eyed girl. Her safety and happiness was more important to me. 

Now it was Kerouac and I. The name came from a friend who had suggested it since he was "on the road". Kerouac and I continued to be adventure buddies. He was very individualistic. He loved me deeply, but he was almost aloof. He walked off leash all of the time and alays waited for me at street corners and crosswalks. He had free range of the front and back yards. He would wander around a little bit but always stayed close to home. 

We rode bikes so much. Between March and December we were always out on the traisl. He wasn't a fast dog and I always told friends I was riding wityh that I ride Kerouac speed. I never left him in the dust but was happy to follow behind him watching him giude me through the forest. On steep descents I always told him to go ahead and he would trot down them and wait for me at the bottom. Some people became frustrated with my style of riding, but I always Kerouac's pace and ability ahead of their need for riding fast. We rode like this for years and it felt like those days would never end. I would leave Kerouac at home in the morning and return home after work. He would go do his business then go onto the front deck and wait to see what we gouing to do. The sound of velcro always brough him rinning. Seeing if I was putting on shoes og gloves or a helmet. He would spin circles by the front door excited to see what we were going to do. 

We would ride or hike or walk for a couple of hours then have dinner. I would lay on the couch and turn the tv on and Kerouac would come and crawl up and lay full body on me - his head resting on my chest. He would sleep comnforted by being so close. His paws would twitch and lips would curl as he dreamed, reliving our adventures or dreaming about the next one. When bedtime came, I would slide out from under him and he would spend the night on the couch. 

Kerouac was a lone wolf. He had no interest in people or dogs and paid no attention to either. He was left to roam my yard freely - front and back. He would lay out front and come and check on me once in a while to see what I was doing. A couple of times he just wandered off and I didn't see him for days. Some friends came to help me look for him once and they found him a few blocks away in someones yard. Another time he left for a week and then just showed back on the step one night - like nothing had happened. He was not a fan of boarding kennels at all. 

Once, when he was 12, I had to leave town for 4 nights. I had expected to get home on the Friday but I got home late on Thursday. It was too late to pick him up so I went for a swim. I got home and fell asleep on the counch. I woke to someone knocking on my front door - it was the owner of the kennel. She looked scared and said that Kerouac was gone - he had escaped. The kenner was 15km south of town driving - and probably 10km away in a straight line. 

I drove out to the kennel and found immediately how he had gotten out, There as a large wood box by the wire fence which the horses had had pushed over so it was lower. I knew he got on the box and hopped over. It was so dark and I couldn't see anything. I knew my boy and knew he was heading home. It was 10km plus away - no a big distance for him. But there were roads and a 4 lanes highway and packs of coyotes - all of which spell danger for my old guy. 

I cam home and grabbed laights and headed up into Peterson Creek which is behind and above my house. The trails headed south out of town and lead in the same general direction as the ranch. I hoped he would find his way to them, and if he did he could find his way home. Deep in my heart I knew this was a tall order for a scared, old dog. I stayed out until 3 am not fiding him. I went home and was going to sleep until 9 and then head out on my bike working back toward the kennel. I expected at best to find his collar. I woke and drank some water and got dressed. I went out the front door and there was Kerouac on the front porch. He got up and walked past me turned the corner into my bedroom and jumped on the bed. He flopped on his side and slept for 12 hours. He was dirty and wet and exhausted - but he was home.    

Kerouac delevloed a lot of lumps, lypomas, all over his body and some were very large but under the muscle so they were inoperable. He continued to plug along - hiking and walking. He started showing signs of feeling unwell when he was about 13. Irregular cells were found during a neddle aspiration of one particular lump. Cancer. I struck me hard and deep. My boy was sick. Drugs kept him happy and active but that was short-lived. He had grown a tumor on the back of one of his eys and he lost use of it. The thing about dogs is how adaptive they are. He bumped into walls for a while but adapted and taught himself how to get around. He was about 14 then - a good age. His masses and lumps continued to grow and he slowed down. 

The end came in January 2011. His mobility had declined and he was becoming less active. Prednisone had done all it could and he seemd uncomfortable at the best of time. My ex-gf came to town and we made the decision that the time had come. He went peacefully and calmly. I hugged as tight as I could telling him that I would love him forewvbver and that we would see each other again as we had many more trails to hike., many more adventures to be had. I felt him move through me physically as his sould left hjis earthly body. I can't describe the feeling, but there was a physicality to his spirit leaving. It entered my chest and I could feel it exit my back. A soft fluttering feeling that let me know he had gone. 

It was hard to leave him there once he had passed but I had to let my boy go. I got his ashes back a few days later - picking them up was the hardest thing. Feeling the physical weight of him was almost too much. He still resides on a shelf on my bookcase just above the chair Harvey always chose to sit in. Harevy would turn his head back and look up to where Kerouac was upon the shelf and he would stare at the bos. he would look at me and I would ask him  "are you looking at Kerouac?" and he would look at me intently and look back up to the box. He sensed that his predicesor was looking down and over him. I hope they are friends now. I know Harvey is taking the best care of his big brother.