“The Dogs In My Life
And
The One Who Saved It”

Why do the pets we love most spend such a short time in our lives giving us the unconditional love we find no where else?

I can remember my dogs, their personalities, eating habits (virtually all the same), sleeping quarters (my bed) and especially the greetings I received when I arrived home. Those wet, slobbering kisses I loved so much.

As the years passed, I remember all the boyfriends, fiancées and one ex-husband who had come and gone. But not my dogs! They were always there. My present husband of twenty five years loves dogs and suggested that small dogs would be best. Over the quarter of a century of our married life, I have brought home an Old English Sheepdog (Waldo), a Border Collie (Foxy), a Belgian Shepherd (Buddy), a Collie/Shepherd-mix (Mugsy – my heart) and our current baby (Khan), our 90 pound German Shepherd. I think my husband Al has been wonderful about the few pounds difference in the size we had originally agreed upon. His flexible manner and love of animals has been the foundation of our past and thriving kennel as well as a loving marriage.

After Mugsy passed away I was devastated. I am certain other pet owners experienced the very same grief and pain when their beloved pets passed away. Of course there is always one that tugs a bit more at your heart strings. That was Mugsy. The day after he passed away I walked through the house hoping to see him running through the house and sliding down the hallway. But no Mugsy. That was Monday. By Thursday I thought I was going to lose my mind.

I called my friend Geri. She is a dog groomer, a good friend and provider of all my rescue dogs. She said she had some puppies and a beautiful German Shepherd and told me to come down to her shop immediately.

When I arrived all I could think of was how my beloved dog Mugsy and I had walked through the doors of Geri’s shop for baths, nail clipping, Christmas toys and Sunday adoptions. I prayed this visit would bring another pet into my life. I had survived from Monday to Thursday without Mugsy. I couldn’t wait any longer for a pet to love and share my life with as I had with Mugsy.

Geri greeted me in her usual manner-blow dryer in one hand and hug with the other. She mentioned that the puppies for adoption were around the corner and that I should take a look. My eyes however became fixed upon the German Shepherd on her grooming table. His face was quite dark with piercing eyes that looked as if his lashes had been painted with mascara. When he smiled at me as I approached he seemed to light up the entire room. He was the most beautiful Shepherd I had ever seen. As I moved closer he licked my face and I melted! It was love at first sight. I never made it around the corner to see the puppies. This was a final sale!

Geri knew I wasn’t leaving without him. “Well,” she said, “I promised him to another woman about two hours ago but I haven’t heard back from her yet.” When she saw the tears well-up in my eyes, I could see them in hers as well. “Susan, it would break my heart to let you walk out without this puppy. “Puppy,” I gasped. “Yes,” Geri said. “He is only two years old and growing,” she added. “Growing? How much does he weigh?” I asked. “About 90 pounds!” Geri laughed. “Well here we go again, another “small” puppy. Al will just love him.” I laughed as I remembered all our other “small” dogs.

It was about 3pm and time to call Al back. I noticed three voice mails on my cell phone which I had previously ignored. Al had no idea I had gone to Geri’s but after a morning of crawling around the house looking for Mugsy’s fur and putting it in plastic bags while crying, Al picked me up from the floor as he went down on his hands and knees to finish the fur-finding. How many husbands would have done this? He was wonderful and I was pathetic. Today was Thursday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in bed.

I called Al back to tell him I was at Geri’s and had found our next dog, at which point I began to describe him. Al listened quietly and responded with one brief inquiry – “Oh, how large is he?” Al asked. I replied, “Well, he weighs less than Mugsy.” Of course I did not reveal that Khan weighed 90 pounds. Mugsy weighed 128 pounds, so I didn’t lie but withheld all other information.

When Geri saw tears in my eyes and assumed Al would not be thrilled with the prospect of a 90 pound puppy, she grabbed the phone and said “Al, just come down here and see the dog. The two of them are in love!” Well that did it! He didn’t have a prayer.

Al arrived a half hour later and saw Khan on the leash Geri had given me as the two of us were standing there waiting to go home. My husband had a smile on his face not unlike that of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. “Can we keep him?” I implored. To which he replied “Sweetheart, how can I deny you anything?” Well true to his word, Al could not nor did not deny me Khan.

Geri told us a bit about Khan’s background before we left with him. Geri’s son Nicky is a “canine cop” who worked with five German Shepherds with whom he lived. Nicky’s job is to search for drugs and arrest the dealers, with of course the help of his dogs. Khan was used as payment for a drug deal gone sour. He was neglected, starved and abandoned.When we adopted him, he was thin, frail and as we later discovered had the worst case of separation anxiety I had seen in any dog.Nicky arrested the drug dealers and took Khan to his mother Geri knowing she would have no trouble finding a good home for him. He was brought into Geri’s shop on Monday – the day Mugsy passed away and adopted on Thursday when we brought him home. God turned grief into joy and that was no coincidence! Anyway, Khan came to us and the drug dealers went to jail. I think that was justice.

When we brought our new puppy home, Al and I began thinking of an appropriate name – something unique. He was truly an exceptionally beautiful dog. He needed a name to match his regal appearance. Recently I had been reading a history of world conquerors. Kubla Khan and Genghis Khan were mentioned. We received numerous accolades regarding the originality of our puppy’s name.

Khan was surely a conqueror. He survived all the obstacles thrust before him and deservedly found a new home and a better life.

As a home-coming gift we gave Khan Mugsy’s Burberry blanket. We know Mugsy would have wanted him to have it. My close friend Judy had a mat made for Khan to lie on with his very own name on it. He was really home now. We also purchased two new beds – one for the living room and one for the bedroom.

There was a method to our madness. The bed in the living room was to keep him off the sofa (Mugsy’s favorite place). The bed in the bedroom belonged to both Khan and myself. When Al wasn’t home I permitted Khan on the bed. This was a very special time of the day for both of us. Whatever tension existed within me when Khan put his head on my stomach, all became right with the world. Somehow his presence released every bit of stress in my body. We took our afternoon naps together. Although the hours varied from day to day depending upon my daily schedule, Khan and I always kept our standing appointments.

Al does not permit Khan on the bed. This is a hard and fast rule. Khan has tried in the past but Al stares him down. Every now and then Khan will try but Al wins the first round. However it is Khan who really is the winner of this competition because in the evening when the three of us watch T.V., Al’s pillows are covered with Khan’s fur. During the time Khan spends with me during the day, he seems to find Al’s side of the bed the most comfortable. So every evening Al annoyingly gets the mini-vacuum to remove the dog hair. This is always a tremendous inconvenience because Al has to get out of bed to get the vacuum. Now he keeps it on his side of the bed.

We’ve recently moved to a wooded area in New Jersey and Khan enjoys his new virtual playground – an acre of land. We have daily visitors: deer, a friendly fox, a ground hog I’ve named Maurice and a very old tortoise we call Felix, who has joined our pack. Khan has employed a degree of selectivity because the uninvited visitors appear daily without invitation. After all this is his domain. An occasional howl or two manage to keep the trespassers away.

Khan has completed our family. We’ve all come full circle because of the dog we’ve saved and in turn saved us.

Written by Susan C. Bagwell
Copyright 2009

Charlie
I woke up to this little black face with big eyes and huge ears. My vision was blurry and I was half asleep thinking to myself, what is this, what’s going on? I sat up and put on my glasses. It was a Chihuahua!

I was living with my friend Stephanie and her family at the time. We both work at the veterinary hospital; in fact we got the job together. We met in college and she always knew that I wanted a dog, a Chihuahua to be exact. My mom had one and I loved her so I wanted one too. They are nice dogs if you train them right. They are mostly a one person dog which is what I wanted. A dog that always had the love in their eyes for me and only me! I had never had that friendship or loyalty. I saw what Stephanie had with her dog and I wanted it too.

I tried at first with a dog named Nabisco. He was a black and white German Shepherd Dog mixed with husky who was at work as a stray and needed a home. I took him home and he was great except for getting out and running away and getting skunked. That was a task, giving him a skunk bath. It ended up that he wasn’t good with cats and Stephanie had a whole litter that she was fostering so I had to find him a new home. I ended up putting him on Pet Finder and he got a wonderful new home where he could run and not get into any trouble. It was very hard letting him go. Stephanie and I cried on the way home but we knew it was best for him and for the kittens.

After a couple of months went by of being dog less I woke up to having the cutest thing in my face. Stephanie had gone over to the neighbor’s house that morning while I was sleeping. She found out that their family from New York had brought a little black, cute as a button Chihuahua with them. She “stole” him and brought him straight up to my room and woke me up without even thinking.

He really was the cutest thing. His big eyes peering down at me. He was so tiny and skinny. I immediately took him from Stephanie and asked where he came from. She told me and I knew I needed to help the poor little guy. When it came to pets and the neighbors things never went well. I looked him over and noticed he had a broken tail and four upper canines due to him not eating right. The baby teeth usually come out when they eat hard food but he obviously wasn’t eating anything at all. He was skin and bones.

For the rest of the week he was all I could think about. I talked about him at work, with my friends and family. I needed him. Finally, I told Stephanie to tell them that I would give them $100 for him and a week later…he was all mine. I was in my glory! At last, a dog that I can handle and is all mine. His name was Blackie but that changed instantly. I had always wanted a dog named Charlie and this was my chance.

Charlie is now a happy normal sized dog who loves life. He runs and plays with my boyfriend’s dog that is ten times bigger. They do great together. Charlie comes with me to work Sunday nights for a toy breed play social. He is one of the stars of the group. And oh man, Auntie Stephy is his love! She saved him and she is his saint. He flips out every time he sees her; it’s a funny sight to see. He is always there for through thick and thin. He is my best friend.