In honour of our dog's third year as part of the family, I thought it might be nice to do a little "Dog Tribute" if you will.
I found Carter on Kijiji about a minute after asking my husband (then fiance) if it was okay if we got a dog. Before he got to the "s" noise of his "yes" I was already clicking an ad for a Border Collie/Lab mix in need of a good home at the Fort Erie Humane Society.
The next day I made the trek with my mom, and upon seeing Kujo (Carter's unfortunate name before we got him), I fell in love. He was the most pathetic, sad, and heart breaking dog I had ever seen at the pound. It took 4 people to literally haul him out of his little cell and into the sunlight so I could get get to know him a bit better.
He had 13 ticks on him. Most of them were around his eyes. He had matted hair, was sad and slightly cross-eyed, and wouldn't play with me. I wanted to take him home immediately.
Usually, the humane society did background checks on potential owners, but the woman said she had never seen a dog so depressed and told me if I could take him home that day, she'd make an exception. I gave the woman my $81 dollars and Kujo was officially ours.
About an hour later, I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into.
Kujo would not get into my car. It took 3 burly men, a dog muzzle, and one hour to get him into my back seat. About half way home, he pooped in my car. Once I got him home, he cowered in the corner for most of the afternoon, looking as though as I was about to take out his eyeballs with a spoon.
When Chris came home that day, he was weirded out by Kujo's demeanor, and didn't know what to think.
So we changed his name. Thinking it was important to keep the hard "C" sound, Carter was settled upon as the new name for our new dog.
Slowly, Carter came out of his shell. We gave him a bath, plucked all his ticks, took him to the vet, got him groomed, and in a week, Kujo was already a distant memory.
The dog I remember getting on May 28, 2008 from the Fort Erie pound is not the dog we have today. He was around for our wedding day, he's been in the house we live in for as long as we have, he's been with us every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthday since Chris and I became a family. He's a fixture at every party we have.
Carter was diagnosed with cancer last April. The Vet told us he wouldn't last past last summer. And he's still here! And he's doing awesome!
Carter is the best. If you've ever owned a dog, you know why.
It's Love.
"My dog - the hearbeat at my feet." - Edith Wharton
