Two Major Family Changes – Part 1

First, we are very sad to share news of CoCo’s passing. CoCo was such an integral part of our family for her 14 wonderful years with us. We loved her so very much and miss her terribly. She was a happy-go-lucky, spunky and sweet companion. I remember so clearly the night we adopted her, driving on a cold winter evening out to the “toolies” of Darrington, WA to take a look at her. We found her listed in the newspaper’s Free Pets section. Nick was just 4 years old then, and I could harly contain my excitement! When we finally found the correct (unmarked) street, and the mobile home with a German Short-Haired Pointer tied to a tree in the yard, Ed and I took a double-take and asked each other if we should go up to the house or not. It was not a welcoming sight in the least. We each had visions of a horror movie unfolding. Approaching the front door, the wet pressboard porch sagged beneath our footsteps. Once the lady of the house opened the door and asked us in, we followed her between the stacked newspapers, boxes, bags and whatnot lining the walls into the family room. We saw teenagers huddled under blankets on the couch, with sweet little black lab momma dog at their feet. We could see the kitchen from where we stood, with the kitchen window wide open. No wonder it was so cold inside. A green garden hose was duct taped to the kitchen faucet and appearred to be their watersource. {Oh my!}

{CoCo at about 5 years old, Nick about 10}

The lady of the house let the puppies out of a really old-school dog kennel made of wood with a domed top and a little metal screened window in the front. Happy to be out of their box, and having been woken up, the 6 or so puppies did as any normal pup would – they all commenced to pee and poop all over the carpet. The lady was prepared, however, with her roll of paper towels. She quickly tore a sheet off, laid it over the spot where the pee or poop was, and moved on to the next. {Naa – no clean-up, just a quick cover-up! :O)

We watched the puppies. Which was most/least active, dominant, nippy? Ed was the first to spot CoCo, and she was the only one in the litter that was chocolate brown, and she was happy, but somewhat calm. It was speculated by the lady of the house that her other dog tied up outside was the papa. I think one of the pups did have that speckled coat. As we continued to watch the pups, it was obvious that CoCo was meant to become part of our family. She was perfect!!

The lady of the house, despite those questionable homekeeping habits, handed us an index card from her card file that contained all of CoCo’s relevent information – parents’ breeds, pup’s date and time of birth, number in the birth order, weight at birth, colorings and markings, etc. I was shocked to recieve it and have been grateful over the years to have had the information.

We drove the 45 minutes or so home, holding our noses all the way. Being stuck in a dirty kennel with 6 or 7 other puppies lent CoCo a rather nasty aroma. Despite whining most of the way home, after a quick bath that first night, CoCo slept well. With lots of treats and lots of love, CoCo quickly became our well-behaved, well loved daughter-dog. She loved everyone she met, including lots of dog-pals over the years. Rest in peace, my big brownie dog. We’ll always love you.