Five years ago, our golden retriever Keeks’ best friend and neighbor, Deacon, a Great Pyrenees moved away. We took Keeks with us to pick out the dog of her choice at the Homeless Pets Super Pet Adoption (now Best Friends).
Going from kennel to kennel it was clear that Kiki wasn’t comfortable seeing all the caged dogs. She wasn’t interested in any dogs. We thought we would go home. I thought the whole thing a bad idea. “Why does a dog need her own dog anyway?,” I asked my wife.
“Because she is depressed,” she said. Then, as we were about to go, Keeks sniffed a big, sad, old dog. She wagged her tail to him as if she were trying to say, “Hey you, cheer up, you’re going to be OK.” He was the only dog she noticed. We took “Louie” out of the kennel and walked him around. Immediately he perked up. He was obviously depressed, but now was so happy to be out of the cage.
The organization adopting Louie was called Cause for Paws. Louie’s foster mother told us we could take him on a trial basis. I was skeptical. In the description we learned that a couple divorced and ditched Louie, a beautiful Irish Setter show dog. Louie was afraid of water, slippery floors and was a “big goofy dog.”
Indeed he was. But we soon learned that Louie loved hiking, running alongside me, and he had an unmistakable charm and loving demeanor. Louie is a sweetheart and he has become my best friend. He comes to work with me every day and now I can’t imagine my life without him.
He likes to sleep outside with me. We go camping together. He loves to go on long drives and remind me every time there is a place where he would be happy to get out and go running. Louie is such a joy in all of our lives. Keeks loves Louie. My wife has decided to cook all of our dogs’ meals in hoping of prolonging their lives. Louie is now 12. He tore his ACL last winter and is still recovering.
What is the moral of this short story? Adopt a dog. Love the dog and connect to nature and ‘the now’ through your dog. We have a wonderful little family with our two dogs. Dozens of neighbors know our dogs, who we don’t know and we get to know them through our dogs. Someday we want kids, but for now our dogs are the next best thing, and the sweethearts make our home and family and Utah Stories office complete.
