Jack

I am Gone

by  • 
Jack

Jack

I crossed the rainbow bridge early this week when my physical body failed me.

My people wept as they wished me godspeed. I was already focused on the road ahead, so I barely noticed the vet who so gently helped me on my way.

I had been in ill health for several months. I had good days, not so good days, and awful days.

There was much hand wringing and hushed conversations about what to do for me. Imagine all that fuss over an old dog like me.

At one point Ash pulled me aside and asked me if I was going to die.

“We’re all going to die Ash,” I said. “It’s just that I am going to die sooner than you.”

“I don’t want you to die, Jack,” Ash said.

His lip quivered as he spoke and I knew he was near tears. Ever since he lost his beloved Codie, Ash has struggled with death.

“Where will you go, Jack?” Ash asked.

“I don’t know exactly,” I said. “This life has been a strange and wonderful journey that brought me to Asherpark. We were meant to be pals, Ash. I will see you someday on the other side.”

As I prepared to leave this world, visions of my life played like a movie in front of my eyes. There were scenes from my puppy days when I was taken from my mother far too soon. Days of hunger when I was gaunt and my eyes were gooey with infection because nobody took care of me.

Then the police came and took me to the dog jail. I spent five months in a kennel at the animal control prison while the woman who owned me debated whether I was worth saving or not.

In January 2010 my life changed forever when Old Dog Haven found me a home at Asherpark. I was overcome with gratitude but helpless to express what I felt. Instead of being a gracious guest, I tried to intimidate Ash and marked constantly for weekss until my scent obliterated every other scent in the house.

One day our mom put me and Ash in the car and drove off with us. I thought for sure I was on my way back to jail because of my bad behavior. As I started to cry Ash licked my big snout and told me everything would be okay.

Ash told me we were going to the grocery store to get doggie ice cream. And so we were.

While I waited nervously in the car, mom ran into the grocery store and came out with boxes of doggie ice cream. We raced home before the ice cream could melt.

Mom pulled the lids off two containers and tossed them to Ash and Tess. They ran off to the backyard to enjoy their treats.

When Mom opened my ice cream and held it by my nose, I grabbed it and tried to swallow it whole. She laughed and patiently showed me how to lick the ice cream without eating the paper.

That first ice cream was the best thing I ever tasted in my whole life. Later I learned how to eat the ice cream by myself.

Jack

Jack and Ice Cream

As I lay dying my heart was filled with gratitude. Out of thousands of old discarded dogs, I was a lucky one given a second chance when Old Dog Haven agreed to find a home for me.

Smilin' Jack

When you remember me, remember how happy I was at Asherpark. If you want to honor my life, please consider making a small donation to Old Dog Haven in my name so another scared old dog can have a second chance.

 

 

 

 

Mama

Me and My Baby

by  • 
Mama

Mama

No matter how bad things got, I always had my baby. They took everything else away from me except for Shiloh and my will to live. But in the end Shiloh and I both survived and began our new life at Asherpark.

My background is complicated. There’s definitely a coyote in my lineage. Just look at my tail and my funny lope. I lived as a feral dog for a time and still carry those traits with me. I prefer to grab a mouthful of food and run to a safe place to eat it.

Shiloh was from my final litter. I don’t remember how many litters I had before hers, but there are other of my pups out there somewhere.

Shiloh and I were picked up as strays by the animal control in southern California. We were both confined at the shelter together until a nice woman adopted us. She took us to live with her and her son in Rancho Cucamongo. We were treated well enough. My daughter Shiloh loved the human companionship and formed a strong bond with our adopter.

Not too long after we were adopted the lady got sick and died. Her son, who never paid any attention to us before his mother’s death, told his friends we were useless dogs. I heard him say he oughta just turn us lose in the desert and use us for target practice.

Instead he did something far worse. He locked me and Shiloh in a small crate hardly big enough for the two of us to lie down. When he wasn’t drunk or high on drugs, he’d toss us a handful of food. He only filled our water dish when he noticed it was bone dry. Sometimes we would go without food and water for days.

No matter how hungry I was, I always encouraged Shiloh to eat first. In the end there wasn’t enough food for even one dog and we lay in the kennel slowly dying of starvation.

Despite my larger size and my maternal role, Shiloh was my protector. She would place her frail little body between me and any threat. I could hear her soft growl when people got too close to us.

I remember well the day Shiloh gave up on life. She had wasted away to twelve pounds when she should have been closer to forty. As we lay nose to nose Shiloh asked if I could let her go. She had lost the will to live and her suffering was awful. I knew Shiloh would not let go of life until I released her. My heart screamed with the anguish that only a mother can feel.

Mama and Shiloh

Mama and Shiloh

I begged Shiloh to hang on for one more day. I knew that if Shiloh let go of life, I would quickly follow her. I could not live without my precious Shiloh.

That night I pondered how I got us into such a mess. Why didn’t I take Shiloh and run away into the desert when we still had a chance? Why did I let us get locked into a crate where there was no escape?

I awoke abruptly to the sound of loud knocking and shouting. “Police!” a man said in a threatening voice. “Put your hands up!”

Suddenly the door was kicked in and policemen ran into the house. There was lots of shouting and cursing. The awful man who had locked me and Shiloh away for so many months was thrown onto the floor and handcuffed.

“You’re under arrest,” the officer told him.

Shiloh and I cowered in our crate. Shiloh stood in front of me to try to protect me from what was sure to come. We watched in terror as one of the officers approached our crate.

“Oh my god!” he shouted. “Come see what that lousy bastard has done to these dogs.”

We were quickly surrounded by more officers. One knelt down and quietly whispered, “It’s gonna be okay. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Soon the animal control people arrived at the house. Shiloh and I were carefully lifted into a truck that would take us back to the shelter. Shiloh was so weak she couldn’t hold her head up. I was so scared I wet myself.

One of the officers walked up to the police car where the bad guy was sitting. “You either sign these dogs over to the city or I’m charging you with animal cruelty,” he practically screamed.

“You can take them worthless dogs. Shoulda shot ’em when I had a chance,” the bad man snarled.

And so it happened that the extra day I begged Shiloh for was just long enough for fate to intervene and save us. Our lives were about to change, though at that moment we had no idea what would become of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asher

When The Barking Stopped

by  • 
Ash

Ash

I’m not sure exactly what turned our barks silent. Maybe it was the constant stress of Tess wanting to kill Shiloh. Maybe it was because Mom was so disappointed how things turned out. Or maybe there just wasn’t a lot of fun stuff to bark about for a while.

Me and mom knew we’d start barking again, but we never imagined it would take five months to break the silence.

Later I will bark about the changes at Asherpark and how we’ve come to accept the new normal. But for now I want to tell you about the Codie rose.

If you’ve read my old barks you know Codie was the most important dog in my life. She raised me and taught me manners. She eventually grew to like me and we used to take walks and play together until she got too old.

Codie was born in June 1993. She died in July 2009. In 2008 mom planted a rose bush in the backyard. The soil isn’t good and the bush has to work real hard to survive.

Codie

Codie

The first year the bush put out a few roses. They were the most beautiful coral color and they bloomed just in time for Codie’s fifteenth birthday.

The next year we were getting ready to celebrate Codie’s sixteenth birthday when she took sick. The roses bloomed on her birthday but we hardly noticed. We knew we were going to lose Codie.

Then came the most awful day of my life when we had to say goodbye to Codie. Me and mom cried a bucket of tears and my heart ached like it was gonna explode.

As the weeks passed without our beloved Codie, I longed to feel Codie near me again. One evening we were moping in the backyard when I went to pee on some plants. As I lifted my leg I caught a glimpse of something bright. That’s when I saw it – Codie’s rose.

“Mom!” I barked. “Codie’s back, I mean her rose is back.”

Mom came running and we both looked real close at the bush. Sure enough, there was one big beautiful rose and a whole bunch of little buds. The bush was blooming again when normally there wouldn’t be new flowers.

Now this may sound silly to you if you don’t believe in signs, but I knew in my heart the fresh rose was a sign from Codie.

Just before she died Codie told me she would always be with me. Even though she wouldn’t be wearing fur and I couldn’t touch her, Codie told me I would feel her presence when she was close.

Looking at her rose gave me goose bumps. I cried tears of joy and took off running around the yard barking like a fool.

After I calmed down mom came and got me. She told me we had to honor Codie’s life by doing something to help mutts that never had a good life.

“Codie will be our guide, Ash,” mom said. “We will listen with our hearts and she will send us the dogs who most need our care.”

I thought that sounded like a great plan. I hoped Codie would send me somebody soon ’cause I was so doggone lonely without her.

Soon after we saw the sign of the rose, Codie sent me Tess for a playmate. That was five years ago. Tess was our first rescue dog and she’s become my best pal.

This morning Codie’s rose came back, only this time there are five amazing flowers…..one for each year Codie has been gone and one for each of us five mutts at Asherpark. Sweet!

 

Rose