Dawn and I love dogs. We have had a dog almost non-stop since our wedding day way back in August of 1975. We counted just the other day and could name: Fido, Domino (though we had her for just a couple of weeks), Butch and Babs. These were all of our BB (before Brazil) dogs and came as boy, girl, boy, girl over twenty-two years.
When we arrived in Brazil in “97” we noticed something different about the country. They have no Humane Society so at times you might see five to ten dogs walking down the street with nary a one having an owner. Things here have changed over the years and animals are being babied more now but there is still the occasional horror story. Dawn saw one just a couple of days ago but I’ll not go into details.
Our Brazilian brood has included: Sammy, a mini-pincher, Old Dog, a street mutt that I took in for a few months and eventually had to put down because he bit two neighbor kids. That is another story in itself. Also included were Ursinha, one of Old Dog’s wild-oats, Sheba, Marly and Branquinho.
We put Ursinha down this morning. She was thirteen. This is her obituary. Weird? Probably but I wanted to share the story anyway. Her obit will be longer than the one that I wrote for my mother. Double weird I know.
Back in 1998 a few months after our move to Sorocaba, I came home one day to find Abby, then seven, with a puppy in her arms. “Look Daddy! Her name is Baby Susie!” I looked and sure enough Abby was holding a filthy little black mutt that had a ton of fleas and ticks.
“Abby, where did you get Baby Susie?” I asked. “From the vacant lot down the street.” “Well then, take her back. We don’t want her!” This was a gross looking little puppy. But it was then that I made my blunder. I took that little thing into my arms and began to examine her. As mentioned she had fleas and ticks, twenty-eight ticks to be exact. I know because for the next few minutes I began the process of extracting everyone of them from her matted fuzzy fur.
“She looks like a little bear” I said. “How do you say ‘Little Bear” in Portuguese? Ursinha!” It stuck. All of a sudden we had another daughter and her name was Ursinha. She would be with us for the next thirteen years.
Over those years she has been such a good dog though not exactly the most compassionate. She bit at least five or so people through the years and one time I faked death in our back yard and she didn’t pay a lick of attention. She even slept as the three thieves stole me blind back in February of this year. I attributed that lapse to her deafness and old age.
We took her to the States with us one furlough and she was the envy of most Brazilians. Even her Vet said, “WHAT?! I want to go to the States and you... a street dog gets to go? THAT is NOT fair!”
We landed in Florida that year (2000) and took Ursinha with us in a crate to a parking garage at Pensacola Christian College where Amy was graduating. During the ceremony, which must have lasted two or more hours, I mistakenly left her crate door ajar and she got out.
I came to get her about three hours later and she was nowhere to be seen! I whistled, called and shouted her name. It was then that a parking attendant appeared. “Have you seen a black dog anywhere?” I asked. “We sure have! We’ve been chasing it for about an hour. I just called Animal Control.”
He pointed me to a nearby bush and when I called her name once more a black head appeared above the foliage. She immediately bolted in my direction a very happy to see me.
A few days later we arrived at our house in Lake Orion where we would spend that year. Our church had prepared the house and it was a wonderful surprise. However, as I was bringing something into the dining room I noticed dirt flying just outside the window. It was Ursinha. I gave her a whack and scolded her. Within seconds she was at it again and the earth was exploding out of a small hole in the flower garden. Just as I reached smack her again up she popped with a mole in her beak!
She was a real hunter. She caught rats, squirrels and lizards too. One time she saw a cat in our banana trees. With a quick swing of her head she shook the plant. The cat fell to the ground for the last time. It's nine lives were spent within moments.
Another reason that we loved Ursinha was that she always talking. She spoke both Portuguese and English. People were often amazed when we gave her a command in either language and she obeyed. She was really funny too with snide comments coming at perfectly timed moments.
Since the beginning of this year Ursinha's health has degenerated. Recently she was barely able to walk and had virtually stopped eating. We awoke this morning, July 4, 2011 and made the long dreaded decision to put her down. Both of us shed tears as we made the short trek to the Vet's office. Ursinha, our little old bear, was prepared for her two injections as she stood trembling on metal table that she always hated. After years of Vet visits she never got used to that table.
The whole process took about ten minutes. When her strong heart finally stopped beating both Dawn and I stood weeping and stroking her lifeless body. She was gone. There was an emptiness, a small hole in our hearts, a strange void.
It is evening now and we are doing much better. Just moments ago Dawn said, “The house seems empty.” She said this with Marly and Branquinho at her feet on the couch and Sheba beside me on the other couch. Funny. Did I mention that we are dog people? Yep I did and we are.
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