My dog Rusty. (rather long story)

[Obamanaut]

Ms ret88 had a motor scooter accident June 11th, 2006, and came home from the hospital July 3rd, a scant four weeks later. She could not walk by herself, not even as far as the bathroom at home or out in public places. I went a lot of places with her that she would not have taken me under normal circumstances.


Approximately 1:30 in the morning of June 12th I was having a conversation with ICU nurses and a neurosurgeon regarding intubation, DNR, prognosis, possible long term brain damage and other topics I never want to discuss again. We were holding this conversation near Ms ret88’s bed where she lay in what they described to me as 'coma due to subdural hematoma.'


Not too long after we brought her home I was at the home my daughter’s boyfriend. He had a new puppy, which was climbing all over me with great big sloppy kisses. I can't recall if I told my daughter or her boyfriend that if they decided they didn't want the puppy, I did. I don't know why - we already had three dogs - I just did.


A few days later, my daughter brought him home, and we named him Rusty. After a couple of days of being abused by the other three dogs, and me thinking he'd never be a part of the 'dog's group dynamic' he was suddenly accepted. When the other dogs ran and chased, they'd push him over, even though at that time he was already larger than any of them.


I really liked Rusty. During the night I'd carry him outside to use the bathroom, and when we came in I'd hold him and rock him in the rocking chair before we went back to bed. We discovered that he was afraid of dead leaves on the ramp that Joey had made for Ms ret88, and would bark at them until we moved them so he could pass. He needed help to get on the bed, chairs, or couch and still needs help to this day. If he is on the bed, and a wad of blanket is between him and the edge, he needs help to get past this obstacle.


After we had had him for several months, Ms ret88 had occasion to talk to his human parents, the people who had given Rusty to the boyfriend. She discovered that he was born in the early morning hours of June 12th (refer to the second paragraph.)


For about two months after Ms ret88 came home from the hospital, while she was still going to a multitude of doctors and physical therapy, and still could not walk long distances unassisted, she would come to me and look at me with her big brown eyes for a moment, then bury her head in my chest and ask "Are you going to keep me if I don't get any better?" The answer was always "Absolutely! But you will get better."


Ms ret88 is better. She drives, cooks, visits her mom in the nursing home, and has all kinds of activities.


Somewhere in the period between Rusty's arrival in our lives and today, we decided that in the morning of June 12th (his birthday) he somehow got some of Ms ret88’s essence. We don't know how, he just did. We think that is why he can't do certain things like get on furniture, or pass dead leaves because of fear. We also know that when I rock him, and he looks at me with his big, brown eyes they don't look like just plain dog eyes, but rather like eyes that say "Are you going to keep me if I don't get any better?" And then he tucks his head under my chin and sits there quietly for as long as I'll let him.


I've heard stories that people with asthma get Chihuahuas to absorb some of the ill effects of the asthma. I believe that when Rusty got some of Ms ret88’s 'essence' on the morning of June12th, 2006 that he also started taking upon himself some of her damage. The look in his eyes, the need for a hug and reassurance after giving me 'the look', the apparent physical limitations, fear of strangeness or change.


If he doesn't get any better, am I going to keep him? Absolutely!

[IndyOp]

1. Thank you for sharing your story... I think the web of life is far more

intricately connected than we can fathom.

:hug:

[Eurobabe]

2. Oh, what a wonderful story...

:hug: :cry: :hug:

Glad Rusty is in your life.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. What a wonderful story. I know that animals can be healers....

If you have a pic of Rusty..pls post it. I would love to see this wonderful pup.

[Obamanaut]

4. We have pictures, but I don't know how to post them. He is a 38

pound mix - wire haired terrier and cocker spaniel - who doesn't know that he isn't a lap dog.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. How to post pictures...

To post pictures, all you need to do is put in a link to the
picture if it's already out there on the internet. For
instance,
will
be replaced by the Democratic Underground logo from the home
page.

To get the link to the picture, all you need to do is
right-click on the picture and choose 'Copy Image Location'
in Firefox and then just paste it into your post or for
Internet Explorer you need to right-click on the picture and
choose 'Properties' and then you'll see the location of the
picture in the window that pops up. You can select and copy
it and then just paste it into your post.

If you want to post pictures that you have on your hard drive
you need to get a free image hosting account at someplace like
http://www.photobucket.com

When you upload your photos to photobucket, they'll give you
the link to use in your posts.

Hyperlinks are really easy. Just paste the link to the page
you want into your post. DU will make it a hyperlink
automatically.

If you want to get fancy, or do other stuff with HTML, then
click on the 'HTML lookup table' link when you create a new
post.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. system hiccuped...