Koko

There is so much love attached to Koko - to her story, to her life, to her name.  Everyone should think that his or her dog is the best dog that has ever lived.  I must say that it's possible - Koko could be the best dog ever.

My dear friend Carrie, one of the greatest loves of my life, went to the Humane Society in 1995 with her oldest son.  They brought home Kokopelli, an approximately 1 year old German Shepherd / Australian Shepherd / Chow.  She was chosen in great part because of her Australian Shepherd breeding.  Carrie and her oldest son shared a love for Australia, and her name was Koko!  Kokopelli being a Southwestern Native American symbol made her even more perfect.

Koko quickly became a child's best friend.  She would come to a whistle while Carrie trekked through the woods behind their home.  She was gentle and fun and would hover protectively over any child in the neighborhood never growling or barking, just being near to watch over.

In 1997 two more children were added to Carrie's family giving Koko more to watch over.  Koko was always attentive to the twin babes - laying closely with nothing but serenity.  A grab from a baby's fist produced no anger or quick retreat, only more patience and peace in Koko's eyes.

We believe Koko sensed Carrie's growing brain tumor as she stayed closer during the walks in the woods and then wanted to be in Carrie's bedroom as she recovered from brain surgery.  There were dramas, traumas and 4 brain surgeries over 6 years, and Koko was a constant source of love and connection to Mother Nature.

My Dear Friend Carrie, One of the Greatest Loves of My Life, died in 2004.  Her sad husband and 3 children kept living and kept trying to love and care for Koko.  I offered to take care of her many times, understanding the refusal as maybe not wanting to let a part of Carrie go.  My offers certainly included my desire to have a part of Carrie in my home.  In 2007, I was granted the wish to have Koko seep into Our Pack.

My love for Koko is huge.  She is a part of my life with Carrie and the 3 children I couldn't love more if God had chosen me as their mother.  Koko is serene and fiesty, strong and accepting of her limits, so cute and so crazy fuzzy.  She's around 14 years old now.  We call her Eeyore sometimes due to her slow and lumbering walk.  We include her in everything, even if she is slow, because she is so worth the wait.  She's our Kokies, our KokieMotion, our Koko Puff, our Crazy Koko, our Kokopelli.  She's unique, yet a seamless piece of our family quilt.  Even if she took us one over Jason's Pack Limit, we had to absorb her.  She's our Koko and we weren't fully Us, The Pack, until she was snoring by the fireplace every night.

Then Came Luna

When Satchel was about 9 years old, I realized he was no longer a puppy.  Many large breed dogs live to be about 10 or 12 or so.  Satchel is a Yellow Lab/Golden Retriever - considered a large breed dog!  When did he stop being a puppy?  I completely missed that!

I started reading some things on-line and in books that getting a younger dog can enhance and lengthen the life of your older dog.  I didn't mention it to Jason at first.  I was still processing the idea that Our Beloved Satchel was a 'Senior' dog!

Playing with Satchel in the living room one night, Jason said, "Pal, Jim (a friend of ours)'s daughter has this dog..."

I cut him off.  "What dog?  We need another dog!"  I told him what I had recently read and he told me about this 10-month-old Black Lab Jim's daughter was having trouble fitting into her family.

Just like with Satchel, I knew she was ours.  Hadn't met her.  Knew she was ours.  Sometimes impulsive acts are mistakes.  I was attached already.  Crazy.

Jason talked about how he met the dog and she was really cute and fun and Jim thought the dog was great too.

I called Jim's daughter.  She told me they'd adopted 'Jordyn' as a puppy.  She and her husband had lived with Labs their entire lives and there was something just 'off' about this one.  Jordyn wouldn't come when you called her.  She would just race around the yard and eat up the landscaping.  She could get out of the house somehow, and while babysitting, even Jim had woken up to find a doorwall open with Jordyn just hanging out around the house, so she had to spend a lot of time in her crate.  There was too much hair and their 2 young children might have allergy issues...it just wasn't working out.  As much as they wanted to love Jordyn, it was becoming too stressful to keep her.  Jason was ready for another dog.  I said we'd take her!

Jim's daughter and husband were going to drop Jordyn off at our house the following weekend.  I was so excited!  I was telling everyone we were getting a puppy!  I was preparing Satchel that life would be different AND more fun!

Jim's daughter and husband changed their minds.  I was devastated.  I felt like they had MY dog.  She was OURS and she needed to be with US.  Remember, I'd never even met her.  God can save you from your impulses.  How could I doubt Him?  As I was struggling with God's plan, Jim saw me and my heartbreak.  Jim talked to his daughter and my 10-month-old Black Lab was finally coming to live with me.  She would arrive the NEXT weekend.  For sure.

When they dropped Jordyn off, you could feel their sadness.  Jim was very helpful and we appreciated his support, trust and intervention.  Our Pack was complete!  Jordyn came with toys and a toy bin and bowls and a crate.  Within minutes she was laying with Satchel and chewing on our favorite dog toy - a plastic bottle.  Within days she was able to be trusted out of the crate (she DID unravel a section of a really really expensive wool rug - DANG it!) and she was Ours.  The only problem we had was that 'Jordyn' wasn't her name.  It fit with her first family, but not with us somehow.  It sounds so kooky, I know, but I feel like she told me her name was Luna.  I felt like she came that way.  She was 'Luna.'

Since then Luna has showed us that all she needed to be her ultimate self was to walk everyday, have a good job, and live with us.  There's nothing 'off' about her.  She's always 'on,' ready for whatever the day will bring.  She's so perfect and fun and loving and sweet that every day with her is a good day.  She makes everyone feel special and important, but we are the luckiest because we get to experience her specialness every second.  I don't know what we've done to deserve the reward of Luna.  She is truly a gift and you can feel a new level of happiness every time she wags her tail.

Though she's considered a Large Breed Dog as well, she seems little next to tall Satchel.  We sometimes call her our Peanut.  She's also the Perfect Peanut, Looney Toon, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Lunatic, Luna-tuna, Swiss Miss, Petunia.  She comes to just about any name!  She loves to walk in the woods at The Sleeping Bear Dunes and fetch an orange floaty toy in Lake Michigan for hours.  When it's too icy or rainy to walk outside, she loves the treadmill.  She's so dark that we have to be very careful walking around the house at night.  She's a very underfoot puppy!  Her favorite game after Keep Away is Hide and Seek and we can't remember what life was like before March 2, 2003.  It's as if she's always been in our Pack.

Satchel's Story

I'm a D.O.G begins with Satchel because he is the 1st dog shared by me and Jason.  We were both raised with dogs and had our hearts filled by those pets.  We are now lucky enough to love Satchel.

We have Satchel's original paperwork from the Humane Society.  He was a puppy born there in 1994 and adopted by a nice man.  The nice man died in 1997 and his extended family didn't know what to do with his house nor with his Yellow Lab/Golden Retriever.  The sweet dog was left in the basement and let out once per day for 5 months.  A nice woman named Louise learned of this dog's sad situation and agreed to foster him until she could find him a home.

Enter Jason.  Jason came home in the winter of 1998 to tell me he'd met thee best dog.  "Pal!  This dog is awesome.  He's the friendliest, nicest dog you've ever seen."  I was interested in hearing about him.  We were living in an apartment, building a house that would not be ready until March.  We knew we wanted a dog, but we couldn't adopt a dog today.  But we had a feeling.  I asked, "What's his name."  Jason said, "Satchel."  I said, "We have to have him."

I have always loved the baseball pitcher Satchel Paige.  Our dog, that's what I was calling him already, had to be named after Satchel Paige, right?  We had to have him.

It took a little bit to convince Louise that we were committed to Satchel and we had to arrange a temporary home for him that would be close so I could walk him every day.

Enter Jason's mom and dad.  They agreed to let Satchel live with them until our house was completed!  Satchel came to live with them on Valentine's Day 1998.  We moved into our house in late March and Satchel was our most important package.

We've learned so much about how to meet dogs' needs through Satchel.  He came to us with many anxiety problems and by consulting dog behaviorists, reading books and by reading Satchel, he became The Perfect Dog.  He's quirky and fun.  He knows hand commands for all the basic obedience 'tricks' and loves to lay on both hot asphalt and frozen snow.  His hearing ability has probably lessened as he's aged, which we think has helped with his fireworks and thunderstorm fears.  We've learned that his pure insanity in a moving car is due to severe car sickness, which is helped when he lies on the floor between the front and back seats.

He's survived soft tissue sarcoma (surgery and 18 radiation treatments) and laryngeal paralysis (tie-back surgery).  He's the strongest person we know and we can't imagine a happy life without him.  He turned 14 on July 29, 2008.

We, as a family, started with Satchel.  Satchel is AWESOME.  He is our Satchimus, our Satchamo, our Satchie-tuna, our Satch Man, our Big Guy.  He is our dog.  He is our love.  He's Our Satchel and he makes us a Pack!