Charlie
Charlie's Story
So ever since I could talk, I have been asking my parents to buy me a puppy. Every birthday, it almost became a joke. To them. But I was serious. I love puppies. About 5 months before my 15th birthday, I decided that I was going to get a puppy for my birthday and that was that. My arguments included "Conner's (older brother) moving out this fall and I'll need a friend," "Tally's (14 year old family dachshund) getting old and we can't live without a dog," and "I'll take care of it and feed it and clean up all it's messes no matter what!" So, there you have it, they couldn't say no. But they did. I started searching on craigslist for hours each night and e-mailing my mom every dog I found. The e-mails went unnoticed for about a month and a half until, one day, I received a reply telling me which ones she might be willing to look at. That was the day I knew I was going to get a puppy. I still remember the dog she replied with, not because it was the dog for me, but because it meant all my dreams were about to come true.
Socks
I got serious. I started visiting shelters with anyone that was willing to drive me (brothers, brother's girlfriend, parents). One day, I went to the Town Lake Animal Shelter with my Dad and my friend, Katie. We came across a pen with 4 black scruffy puppies inside and the one with white paws ran straight to me. I was in love! I named him Socks and cuddled with him while me discussed with the lady about picking him up in a week after he had his shots and was neutered, I was so excited. A week later, my mom picked me up from school so we could go straight to the shelter, but something was wrong. Apparently there had been a parvo outbreak in the shelter and Socks (and his siblings) had all gotten it really badly and none of them survived. I was devastated. I knew parvo was a huge risk with trying to adopt a puppy in the spring, but I was so ready for a puppy, so we didn't give up.
The Dog of my Dreams
We started looking for shelters outside of Austin. I'm not sure how we found it, but I found that Lehman Animal Shelter in Giddings, Texas had a bunch of puppies. Spirits high, we woke up early Saturday morning and headed to Giddings! The ride there was long and the shelter was hard to find, but it was well worth it. Sure enough, the first pen we saw had 3 puppies in it. One black mutt, one tan mutt and one black and white mutt. I decided to sit down on the opposite side and let my puppy pick me. As soon as I walked in, the little black and white puppy ran up to me and immediately started jumping around and chewing on my hair. It was love! It didn't take long to realize that this little fluff ball was mine. We got a great deal. The puppy was only $50, with a vet voucher for neutering, 1 month pet insurance and a micro chip. Despite the long list of potential names I'd had saved in my phone, I just knew his name was Charlie! He was perfect and so incredibly mellow!
Too Mellow...
Charlie was the cutest puppy I had ever met. I brought him everywhere that first week. He came to church with me the following day (he slept through the whole service) and I brought him to Younglife that Monday. Side note: if you have trouble making friends in big group settings, get a puppy. Everyone is instantly your best and closest friend. Anyway, the one thing I kept hearing was "he is SO calm! It's like he's always sleepy." And here I was, thinking I had the best most well behaved 6 week old puppy in history. About a week after we got him, he stopped eating. So we switched food. Then he started throwing up. So we fed him slower. The P word began haunting the back of my mind, but I refused to believe it. If you've ever had a puppy, you know that you're head over heels in love by the one week mark. My puppy was perfectly healthy. He had to be. After he began having diarrhea, I knew we had to bring him in.
Parvo.
I have little memory of that first visit to the vet. I remember the cold room and the look on the vet's face when he told us Charlie had parvo. At this point, he had a 30% chance of survival. Looking back on this moment, I am so thankful for that pet insurance. That was the only way we were able to afford treatment. I mean, who spends $2,000 on a 30% chance puppy they just met 2 weeks ago? We had to leave him there, in a tiny metal cage. It was horrible. I will never forget the smell of his parvo room. We visited him every day after school and tried to coax him to eat. He lost weight and was losing his ability to stand up. The thing about parvo is, the longer it lasts, the smaller the chance of survival gets. After about 3 days, it's normally time to give up. This guy had parvo for 8 days. Day 8, we got a phone call from the vet telling us that he wouldn't make it to this evening and we should come by as a family to say goodbye. My mom woke me up, in tears, and we all headed to the vet. Charlie looked terrible. He could barely move. We just sat there as a family and cried over this sweet little puppy for who knows how long. We said our goodbyes and thanked the apologetic vets for their dedication to sweet Charlie. That was Saturday. The next day was Easter, so we wouldn't be hearing from the vets until 5pm Sunday evening.
Easter Miracle
That did not start out the happiest Easter of my life. I was numb. We went through the day happy to be together, but heartbroken at our loss. The day seemed to take forever until around 4pm, my dad got a phone call from the vet. I knew it was them as soon as he answered. We all waited in anticipation. Guys, I might be crazy, but I believe God reaches us in amazing ways with animals. I also believe He demonstrates his glory through miracles. Charlie is a miracle. When the vet called us, just a day after he was deemed unsaveable, he was eating solid food and would be ready to come home the following day. The vets had never ever seen anything like it. They kept telling us over and over again that Charlie was a fighter like they had never seen before. Charlie was, and still is, the most strong willed dog I have ever met. He is a total pain in the neck sometimes but I can't imagine having any other dog. I am so thankful for my "cheap" pound puppy.
Fast-Forward 3 Years
Charlie is now a crazy 3 year old who is terrified of anything that moves or makes noise and hates cats! He is about 30 pounds: big enough to be an active adventure dog, but small enough to (kind of) fit in your lap. He is weird. He is playful. He is crazy. But we love him! I will never forget the day I thought I had lost him, and my heart goes out to anyone who has lost a dog too early due to parvo. I can't imagine my life without Charlie right now, and I look forward to our many years to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment