DOWN HOME: Bundle of fur mends broken hearts

Posted: 4/13/07

DOWN HOME:
Bundle of fur mends broken hearts

Guilt pangs strike at the oddest moments.

Like when I’m cuddling with her, amazed by her comely looks and loving nature. Suddenly, I realize the reason she’s here is because the one who came before her no longer is part of my life.

Then, when I’m startled or excited, I forget for a second, and I call her the name of the one who came before her. Although she never acknowledges the slip, I feel absolutely awful.

Adjusting to a new puppy never is simple. Especially when the one who came before her was part of our family 14 years.

Betsy grew up with our daughters. We got her when she was 6 weeks old, on Molly’s fifth and Lindsay’s eighth birthdays. She quickly made herself at home. We trained her to ring a bell by the back door; she trained us to get up and open the back door whenever she wanted to go outside. When one of us got sick, she hovered like a nurse. She always met me at the door at the end of the day. We celebrated her birthday and hung her stocking with ours at Christmas. After awhile, we couldn’t imagine life without her.

But since Betsy aged about seven years for every one of ours, the ravages of time finally caught up with her. First, she went deaf. Then, almost simultaneously, she started losing her vision and had a hard time using her back legs.

If the vet had tried to talk me out of what I asked him to do, I would’ve crumbled. But he assured me the hardest decision also was the most loving. So, we said goodbye to Betsy.

We grieved for more than a year. Especially during breakfast, and right after work, and at bedtime. Life wasn’t the same.

But, finally, we decided the time had come to enter the next phase of our lives. Thanks to the Dallas Morning News classifieds and the Internet, we found Betsy’s adorable successor.

In the old days, we would’ve said she’s a mutt. But nowadays, every dog has a lineage, and ours is a cava-tzu. Her father is a cavalier King Charles spaniel, and her mother is a shih-tzu. Best I can tell, she’s got her daddy’s spaniel personality (think doggy attention-deficit disorder) and her mother’s looks (think Ewoks from Star Wars).

We named her Topanga. If that name isn’t familiar, then you didn’t raise kids in the ’90s. One of the favorite TV programs at our house when Lindsay and Molly lived in it was Boy Meets World. One of the main characters—with a mane as thick as you can imagine—was a girl named Topanga.

Before we picked up our puppy, I’d been considering names. The other contender was Winnie, from The Wonder Years. But the moment I saw that little ball of brindle-and-white fur, I knew Topanga would be a fit.

When I consider all of creation, I’m amazed at God’s wonder and majesty. But when I count my blessings, I thank God for dogs.

–Marv Knox