February 18, 2002

In a mere 17 days, it will be the 10th anniversary of something that changed my life forever - I met my best friend.

I grew up with an older brother who was allergic to any form of animal that wasn't a fish so I 'adopted' other people's dogs like my cousin when she lived nearby and her Black Lab mix Buck. Or even better, old neighbor Dan and his Golden Retriever Dylan. I use to have my own leash so that when Dan went to work on nice summer days and left Dylan outside, I could come over and walk him. Dan never seemed to mind even the one time I learned that some dogs liked to roll in the solid waste of other dogs. Thankfully, Dylan chose to do that on the same day that Dan was planning on bathing him. Dylan use to always know a certain tune that I whistled and would come to the fence for either a nice head rub, a cookie, or a real treat - a tomato.

With deciding to take on home ownership after my mother died, I knew that it was the perfect time to finally get one of my own. The backyard is a good size for a nice, midsized dog and the only thing missing would be to install a gate across the driveway, otherwise it was all fenced in. While browsing area humane society websites, I found this face staring back at me one day:

February 2002

I remember showing the photo to a friend and laughing at his name and wondering what hillbilly would name their dog 'Hooch'. I sent it to Big A, whom I was only dating at the time, for him to see and somehow between the two of them (both of whom had grown up with dogs so I trusted their judgement), all three of us decided to take an hour road trip to Michigan's capital on a Saturday afternoon to see him in person while also visiting a mutual friend for dinner. We found his kennel immediately and he came up to the gate as if he knew us, not barking at all. We spent some one-on-one time with him and also I was able to take him outside on a leash (where I learned he isn't a fan of getting dirty or stepping in puddles, a character trait that continues to this day).

Come Monday, I was back there, answering the questions and lying about some answers (well, I was going to get that gate. I just hadn't yet) and wondering what she meant when she asked if I could handle a self-confident dog. Somehow I passed and the next thing I knew, I had paid my $90 and I was now a proud owner of this curly tailed dog who, upon leaving the humane society, did nothing but bark in the parking lot. A start that semi-worried me but he did hop into the backseat of the car as if he had always belonged there. I sat in the back too while Big A drove us home. I remember sitting in the back and having my delayed panic attack and crying. What if this dog was those crazy kind that ate drywall or had separation anxiety? What if I had to return him for these things? I took my dog ownership seriously. I wasn't just doing it on a whim. This had been 31 years in the making. Eventually on the way home, Hooch laid his head down on my lap which helped me a bit.

When we got home, we kept him on the leash as we parked the car close to the fence on one side and barricaded the other side with trash cans as our makeshift gate and let him wander around. I had read that when you bring a new dog home, to make it a quiet, relaxing experience and just let him investigate room-by-room which is what we did. Eventually he found his new bed in the living room and his water and food dish.

That night, I had Big A stay over 'just in case'. Just in case of what, I'm not sure. The only thing that happened was that Hooch needed a potty break in the middle of the night which started us on establishing his and my schedule for things like bathroom usage and bed time, traditions that still continue to this day such as his bed being on the floor next to me and the nightly 'Are you ready to go to bed?' question as I turn off the lights to which he always gets up from the comfy couch or chair he was laying on to come to bed. Even his short stint in the kennel in the living room didn't last long when he was left alone for a short period so I could see what he would do...which was nothing other than seize the moment to lay on the couch. That I could work with. Ever since then, I just make sure to always say the same thing that I've said since then which is 'You be a good boy. I will see you soon' which has become a code for 'Sorry but you aren't going with me this time' and leads him to give up on the hope of such a possibility and to get comfy on the couch instead.

Over time, the daily morning visits into every room when he wakes up has stopped and he knows where to go for his water in the middle of the night before coming back to bed (which always tickles me for some reason). He has never eaten drywall. He has never rolled in other dog's solid waste (and when he does sniff it, he actually looks repulsed by it and hops as far away from it as he can). He did jump out of the picture window one Christmas but it was time to be replaced anyway. In summary, he is the dog I've always wanted and must've been waiting for and I'm a very lucky girl.

Now, his face had grown white (I don't even remember that mostly brown face of his from the humane society photo). He has strange lumps and bumps all over him, some that are even visible to the naked eye. He has a weird growth on his lower eyelid that was actually bleeding last week for some reason which I am hoping is part of this growth just going away like his other wart-like items on his snout have done over the years. He has trouble jumping up into our bed at times (adding a couple of throw rugs to the hardwood floor seems to help but I have had to grab his hind legs and give him a little boost from time to time). He has trouble walking up the steps from the backdoor into the kitchen, especially when his feet are wet. I see all of this while wishing I didn't see any of this. Thankfully, these moments where he shows his advancing age are still few and his normally joyous personality who loves his walks and car rides and who pulls on a leash for anyone else that walks him other than myself while he tries to urinate on anything upright is still alive and well and the more dominant character trait and those are what I am focusing on.

December 2011