Moving On

Sixteen months have passed since we lost Katie, and Sydney has been gone just a little over a year. A week before the anniversary of losing Sydney, I finally replaced the background picture on my laptop. It was one of my favorite pictures of Sydney in the snow. It's past time to start focusing on the fur babies that are still with us. I replaced that picture with a picture of a sweet Cocoa Bean at an early age. She didn't belong to us then, but who can resist that face?

Sometimes it is hard to recognize that she is no longer a puppy. She has only been with us two and a half years, so I have to remember that she is eight. Recently I had to make an appointment for her with a specialist. She has had a knee that pops when manipulated. She has been on activity restriction. As I was talking to myself, I guess my way of committing to memory that I needed to establish this appointment, it wasn't her name that I used. I said, "I have to remember to make Sydney an appointment." Yikes! Sydney was always seeing specialists for various problems. Old habits die hard. 

Cocoa has so missed her daily walks as we have tried to get her knee to heal. Her demeanor suffers so much when she doesn't get a walk. It was breaking my heart. We finally decided that we needed to see a specialist. Fortunately, we got great news. She suffers from tendinitis. We can deal with that. Walks are back on. Her outlook is much approved. But all this serves as a reminder that she is no puppy. No matter her energy level and her newness to our family, she is 8. She is considered a geriatric dog. Here's to hoping we have her for at least another eight years. 

The Cocoa Bean

After Jack arrived, we decided that we were done adding pets to our family for awhile. Small house, two humans, three animals -- we were to capacity. The universe had other plans for us, however. We did, in fact, add a fourth furry member to our family.

Cocoa came to us at the age of five and a half. This rambunctious, hyper, and sweet girl has experienced a lot of loss in her life. She belonged to Christian's parents. Christian's dad trained her so well. He would leave a row of treats out, and she would only grab one a day. She also did not bark. She would make this very small sound that sounded like a whisper of a bark. As a young dog, she would stay beside Billy when he returned home from his dialysis treatments. Three and half years ago, Billy passed away and Cocoa lost an important person in her life. Fast forward to December 2012 -- Christian's mom became unable to care for Cocoa prior to her passing, and Cocoa came to live with us. Four animals were a lot, but she was such a great addition. She kept everyone on their toes.

I am not going to lie, there were some ups and downs. Cocoa can be very submissive in some situations. Initially, we had to be very careful how we said anything to her, otherwise we might be cleaning up a small accident. The frequency of these accidents has improved, but we still have to be careful sometimes. Additionally, Cocoa will put herself to bed if she thinks she has done something wrong or if she thinks someone (human or animal) is upset with her. Talk about sensitive!

Cocoa quickly acclimated to her place in our home. Within a week, she found her voice. No more barking whispers. She could make as much noise as any of the others. She also, eventually, made friends with Jack. Jack was rather hostile towards her at first. Having never heard him hiss, I was shocked at his reactions to Cocoa. Of course, he got over it. As Cocoa laid on the couch one night, Jack slowly inched up and smacked her in the face, TWICE. The rest is history. Now they are the best of friends. They run, play, wrestle and create havoc. It is wonderful!

A year later, we are so thankful Cocoa Bean joined our family. She brings us a lot of joy with her lovable, infectious nature.