The Search

Being without a dog for a several years I was in painful need of having one in my life again but at the time, my husband was against it. I decided to give up insisting temporarily because I didn’t want to create tension in my marriage. After a few weeks and all of the sudden my husband said, “Ok, let’s go get a dog”. SHOCKER! I got up and going before the alien who had taken over my husband’s body for the day decided to leave. LOL!

As a young, ignorant couple we visited every pet store we could find. I don’t remember what town it was but we looked at a bull terrier which was white with black spots and just so deliciously cute! Unfortunately, she was not a good match because we were told they generally do not get along with cats and we were not as wise as we are today so, we passed. We just could not take the chance of our cat being hurt. I still think of the dog’s face today.

Weeks went by then finally we found a guy who had Labs and we wound up selecting one of three sisters who turned over on her back when she saw us. We named her Luna. Immediately, we put Luna in the car, took her home, and introduced her to our cat, Etouffe. They fell in love. Can you believe we put Luna in a crate that night and she was quiet. When are puppies ever quiet? Surprisingly, the only naughty things Luna ever would do was to eat a hole in my rug, chew a bowl of candy, and pee when she met Etouffe. And it all took place in the same week.

Training the Trainer

Although Luna was a well-behaved dog, we hired a trainer. When the man got to our house on the designated day and time, I thought he was out of his senses when he said he was going to train us to train the dog. NO STINKIN WAY! I told you we were a young and ignorant! If you think about it, we humans tend do a wonderful job of sending mixed signals though we swear we don’t. If you disagree, take a video of yourself for a few days and watch how many ways to Sunday you ask your dog or child to do something or think by calling their name they are supposed to read your mind. Oh how simple minded we 2 legged creatures are. LOL! Turns out, the man was a brilliant! What better than to teach these simple minded humans who send so many mixed signals to train their own dog? In a few weeks we had Luna trained- or better said, she had us trained to give the correct silent commands! Of course years later my husband forgot all of his training and reverted to the horrible habit of sending mixed signals confusing the heck out of our other dogs until they figured out to send their own signal and not heed to his mixed up commands… EVER! So there dad! HA! HA!

Everyone Loved Luna

Luna would walk into our neighbor’s yard and act as if she owned the place. We took her everywhere and into anyone’s home. She was welcome even if people didn’t appreciate dogs. Luna was like Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Theresa all balled into one amazing fur kid. She was smart and stubborn but always respected everyone and everything and we loved her to pieces. Funny kid, we took her to the canal to walk a lot but she would never poop there. No matter where we were, we would have to drive sometimes hours home for her to go on her own property. All the years we had her, she never changed that habit.

When Luna was 4 we moved to a house with a back yard that we eventually fenced in. Luna loved being out there for hours. She would lie down in one corner and each time I looked out for her she had moved a few feet. Finally, we figured out she was guarding the fence line not in a Labrador way, but in her calm, classy manner. After her meals she would go out and walk the entire fence line (almost an acre) then she would come in. There was no way of getting her in the house once she started to walk the property. When she passed away we all missed seeing her walking around, still do!

Luna lived through the sickness and deaths of my parents, 3 of our cat children, and I can’t remember how many of our other dog kids. When she was about 15, she started having issues getting up and walking. One day though, when I opened the back door to let everyone out, our Afghan Hounds took off like Ferrari’s after a rabbit. Low and behold, little old Luna moved almost as fast as the Afghans to catch that rabbit. It scared me to death but I was not going to stop the joy of her hunt! Even as an elder dog with arthritic legs increasingly betraying her each day, Luna was awesome and always had a surprise or two up her fur!

Passing With Dignity

In August of 2011, when Luna was almost 17, I was asked to work out of town for a few weeks and when I refused due to Luna’s ailing health, they told me to go or I would be fired. I acquiesced and to this day regret it because upon my return, we had to let Luna go. At that point her legs were not even strong enough to lift her up from the floor. Being as independent and strong as she was, we had to let her pass with the dignity she deserved. My husband, the man who didn’t want pets had to part with the other love of his life! As difficult as it was for me, he had more pain and tears than most people could understand. Since then, we remember Luna very often and even our neighbors recount their own Luna stories. She was well loved and gave a lot to all of us whether we needed it or not!

I always thought of Luna as an old soul who knew all the secrets of the universe and maybe she really did. I don’t regret all the times I carried her outside when she could no longer use the stairs or all of the nights I sat with her to clean her and make sure she didn’t need anything. It was the least I could do to repay her just a little for the 17 years she was the guardian of our souls and she taught us to be better people.

Thanks for reading about Luna.

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