Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love, unless he’s owned a dog.
~Gene Hill
It was over three years ago that this guy made his way into the Books household. It was unplanned, unscripted, and it was, by all accounts, incredibly bad timing.
Spring 2020 was indeed the worst of times. COVID-19’s unyielding advance roared in and changed countless lives as it force-fed unsuspecting and unprepared souls for interruptions that would make them re-evaluate everything they took for granted. Everyone has a COVID story to tell….lost wages, the beginning of the work-at-home phenomenon, and lives changed, regardless if it was for better or worse. Too many had to endure the loss of a loved one due to the ravages of an unknown viral assailant who cared nothing about status, age, health, or political beliefs. My family was lucky. Others, not so much.
Still, the advance of COVID-19 is irrevocably tied to a loss in our family, albeit connected on a time continuum vs. physical infection. As COVID began its assault, it triggered a confluence of events that would mark the painful beginning of the end for our beloved family Cockapoo, Bella. Only eight years young, she was taken away from us by a vicious and unrelenting cancer that robbed her of the ability to bark, eat, and walk in just four short weeks. As Covid’s rage began and the world shut down in response, Bella’s time was limited, and she was at the end of her canine rope. We painfully and reluctantly faced the decision that so many dog owners must endure at some point in their dog’s life.
Bella was the first pet that we added to our brood in October of 2012. She was an early Christmas gift to our kids, the result of much discussion and debate as my wife had some heartburn about adding a rambunctious puppy to the household mayhem (you can read more about that here). Years of begging and discussion finally wore her down or softened her resolve, and it was no surprise the two of them bonded instantly. Bella had a gentle nature and trained easily, and to say she was a good dog would have been an incredible understatement. The unconditional love she showed for us was truly something special.
Getting another dog seemed unthinkable to me, at least in the immediate tense. Watching Bella slip so rapidly was beyond difficult for all of us, and to give another dog the love and affection that was solely channeled to her for the last 8 years was an absolute non-starter.
A sense of betrayal filled me when I considered it, but I knew, at heart, I was scared to give that level of affection to another dog for fear of losing it. To no one’s surprise but mine, Bella’s passing drained me, and it clearly jaded my sense of canine devotion.
That didn’t stop us from filling that void rather quickly. What started as a parental decision to wait for a few months rapidly turned into a family search for another fur baby the very next day, largely spurred by our daughter’s loss of 1/3rd of her Senior year in high school. At the same time, we were in the middle of Bella’s demise and subsequent passing, our daughter was watching the last of her high school years closing out in a much different way than expected. She was robbed of what should have been a glorious final 3 months of celebrating and basking in the completion of her final year. Those ceremonial events that mark the last vestiges of senior high school suddenly disappeared…no prom, no concerts, no plays, no musical theatrical productions…no pomp and circumstance of graduation. To her credit, she took it pretty well, at least on the surface. I can’t say Mom and Dad did the same.
Our daughter went to work finding another dog immediately once she was given the high sign. The same rules applied as they did for Bella ….non shedding, hypo-allergenic, no more than 25 pounds in weight. As we gave our daughter the say-so in the final choice, she quickly zeroed in on the type and breed she wanted. I had hoped to get a dog about the same size that Bella was. To be more precise, I wanted a dog we could put outside without fear of it becoming a target for the abnormally large hawks that regularly patrol our neighborhood. I’ve seen them swoop in for a rabbit or squirrel meal, and it’s fast and wicked. Small mammals don’t have much of a chance against a hungry raptor in these parts.
Enter Ollie, a ten-pound teddy bear mix who had more energy, more intensity, and more gusto for life than his predecessor. If Bella was the perfect example of an obedient, respectful, and proper female puppy, then Ollie was the loud and rambunctious swinging dick of a stud male. He may have looked all petite, cute, and pretty, but underneath lay mountains of play and tumble power just waiting to burst forth like Mount Vesuvius on the unsuspecting city of Pompeii. This one had more energy and intensity than 3 Bellas combined.
