About a year after my Mother died, I adopted a dog. When my Mother died, the house seemed so quiet. We missed her cheerfulness and can-do attitude. I wanted to take care of someone else and I scanned the internet for dog breeds. A woman at work had a Cockapoo and she showed me his picture. I immediately fell in love with the breed.
I saw a breeder’s website and they weren’t too far from us. I traveled with my Dad at the wheel to pick up Duke. That was what they called him. I called him Dukie after a few days of living with him. He was a sweet dog, full of trust and meekness. He had a white patch on his chest, and his droopy ears were cute. I was given a week off by my boss who said I needed to bond with my new dog. So I got to know my puppy day and night.
He grew up slowly and I noticed his legs get longer. He was no longer cute but loveable. He rarely barked, which was fine with the family. He got along well with everyone. When I adopted a cat from the shelter, Dukie looked at me with reproachful eyes. But I fell in love with Katya. She’s a miniature Russian but she has no papers. Soon the two got along together.
One day, when my Dad doled out his meds for his morning doses, he dropped a pill on the floor and Dukie immediately pounced on it and ate it. I was frantic and called a scientist friend of mine to calculate how much the pill was in one dose and whether with Dukie’s weight he would tolerate it. I drove around town trying to see where I could take him. I finally settled down to park our car at the vet hospital.
They gave him a charcoal pill to coat the medicine. They said they could keep him under observation. I knew they would ask a fortune to take care of Dukie. I told them I was a scientist and I worked at a hospital once in the past. The staff allowed me to take Dukie hom. I remember when I looked at Dukie in the car, he looked ready to get sick. Mercifully, he waited until he got home and puked the charcoal all over his bed.
I kept him in my arms at intervals with walking him to counter the effects of the blood pressure pill. That’s what my cousin Erwin told me to do. Erwin has a German Shepherd dog.
I had Dukie in my arms all day long if we were taking a break from walking. The weather cooperated. Finally, at midnight, Dukie looked at me expectantly and his eyes were alert. I thought to myself, The worst is over.
That was when Dukie entered my life. He’s gone over the Rainbow Bridge now. He died from the effects of diabetes. He endured countless needlesticks. Dukie was a beautiful red Cockapoo and his eyes were a soulful brown. I have a website on Facebook called Dukie, The Cockapoo. Go over there and see him at play and at rest.
Merryagnes Blog 