A Memorial Tribute to KOKO

Dad and I were sitting together in the plant/computer room of our house just a few days after the beginning of 2008. The holiday guests had all left and we were looking back over the holiday season. Dad mentioned that it hadn’t been the same without “Koko” and that maybe he should write a memorial tribute to him. We tossed some ideas back and forth, but nothing really came of it other than a few notes that were filed in the computer desk. The other day, when the technician came to try and fix the problem we were having with our Internet connection, we found those notes and decided that the time had come to complete that tribute. This posting is the result.

If you look at the picture accompanying this posting you will notice that it is an apricot Poodle; that was “KOKO.” He was born on November 10, 1992 and had to be euthanized on December 19, 2007. He was partially blind, nearly deaf and during the last few months of his life, he lost control of his bladder and was urinating all over the place. Frequently when mom and dad tried to get him to eat moistened dog food, he would take a few bites and then his bladder would let go and a big puddle would end up on the floor. He was embarrassed and ashamed of this and he would run away and wouldn’t finish his meal. In addition to all of this, he began to pace the floor in confusion, so mom and dad felt that it was time.

It is very difficult to euthanize a pet, but it is particularly hard when you have had your pet for a long time and it is only days away from Christmas when you should be celebrating, not having to put a long time friend down.

Mom and dad got Koko in January of 1992 as a companion for their Bichon Frise, “Brandy.” The breeder was an elderly lady who was hospitalized in early December. As a result, Koko had little interaction with humans as there was no one in the home. The breeder’s son went to the house twice a day to feed the dogs and let them out to go to the bathroom. This created two problems. The dogs were not socialized and the larger dogs got most of the food and the rest fought over the leftovers.

For the first few months Koko would not let anyone touch him, but with a lot of patience and coaxing mom and dad eventually could touch him, but only with one hand. If anyone tried to touch him with two hands he would panic. He watched Brandy all the time and then mimicked whatever she did. If someone came to the door and Brandy jumped up and down and barked, then after watching what she did, Koko would do the same thing. It was interesting watching him learn what he should do.

One day when Koko was about six years old, mom and dad’s granddaughter came over with her new “Beauty Set.” All the adults were sitting having coffee in the kitchen and she was playing in the nearby family room. She then called everyone and asked them to come and see what she had done. Everybody went to look and there was Koko, the dog that you couldn’t put two hands on, sitting quietly beside her with hair curlers all over his head.

Koko was always afraid of going hungry, so whenever the food bowl was empty, he would drag it to wherever mom and dad happened to be in the house to show them that it was empty. The bowl was a ceramic food bowl and it weighed about one and one-half pounds, so dragging it around was quite a chore for a ten pound dog.

In 2001 the family moved from Regina, Saskatchewan to Creighton, Saskatchewan where we currently live. After the move, Koko would allow mom and dad to pet him with two hands or hold him and pet him. I think that the move probably made him feel insecure and as a result he wanted more contact with mom and dad.

At Creighton, Koko was introduced to walks in the bush. He thoroughly enjoyed these walks which usually involved our family’s dogs plus a neighbour and his three dogs. The bigger dogs frequently jumped into the ponds along our walking route and swam around. Koko would stand on the edge of the pond and watch the others, but he would not go into the water himself. Then one fall day a few years ago, the other dogs were in the water and Koko was standing on the bank of the pond watching when suddenly he made a massive leap and landed in the deep water about five feet from shore. He went right under the water and when he came back up coughing, he quickly swam to shore and climbed out. No one has any idea what made him jump in, but it was the one and only time mom and dad ever got him to go swimming. A couple of years later, in the spring when it was warm enough to take him out again, he was too stiff from arthritis to go on long walks, so mom and dad left him home when we went. It wasn’t the same without him, so mom and dad stopped taking all of us for walks in the bush.

As Koko got older, he enjoyed curling up beside mom on the loveseat while she watched television and he would curl up beside her in bed at night. Mom and dad miss his welcome bark when they come home from up town and his wagging tail letting them know he was happy to see them.

Mom, dad, and their younger daughter were all present when the veterinarian gave Koko his needle. Moments later the vet checked his heart with a stethoscope and pronounced him dead. Everyone said their goodbyes and mom left the room. Dad and his daughter were still in the room talking to the vet when dad noticed that Koko’s tail was wagging. The vet saw dad staring at the wagging tail and said that it was just muscle spasms. It might have been, but dad is sure that it was Koko’s spirit letting everyone know that everything was alright. I’m sure from his wagging tail that he has gone to a great place, but we all miss him.

Until next time,

Teia

PS from Dad. I’m glad that Teia pushed me into helping her with this memorial tribute. Koko went from a dog with a lot of social problems to a loving and faithful companion to all members of the family. We still miss him and his joyful welcome home greetings, but we know that he is no longer in pain and that he is in a place where he is happy. His wagging tail told me so!

Making it Safer for Your Blind Dog

Do you have a dog that is blind or nearly blind? If so, you know that caring for a blind dog is different than caring for a sighted dog.

For one thing, you probably discovered early on that your dog bumps into things that are placed in his walkway. Blind dogs, like blind people, learn the layout of a house and are able to maneuver their way through hallways, living rooms and even stairs with little trouble. But if a piece of furniture is moved, or if a toy is left in a walkway, the dog collides with it or stumbles over it.

For this reason, it is very important that in a home with a blind dog, you do not move household items around. Do not change the position of the furniture, or if you do, make sure to guide the dog slowly up to the new location of the furniture so it can learn the new layout of the room. Also make sure toys or other items are picked up and put away.

Another area you need to keep clear is the yard. Blind dogs will run around their own yard after they have grown accustomed to it. However, if the lawn mower is left out, or if a lawn chair is put in a different spot, the dog may run into it and possibly be injured.

Pools also pose a danger. Anyone with an in-ground pool and a blind dog needs to fence the pool off from the rest of the yard. A sighted dog could be taught to swim to the steps and climb out in case he ever accidentally fell into the pool. But if a blind dog accidentally fell in, he would have little chance to figure out where the steps were before he grew exhausted from swimming and drowned.

If you have a staircase that is open on one side where the dog might fall through the railing to the ground below, you should put something up along the bottom portion of the railing to prevent any tragedies. After all, you love your dog enough to do whatever it takes to keep him safe and happy.

It is not difficult to care for a blind dog, but it does require extra patience and, as mentioned above, some extra planning. Fencing off a pool, leaving the furniture in place, and keeping walkways clear of toys and other things will help the blind dog maneuver around the house and yard almost as good as a sighted dog.

There are different things that cause blindness in a dog, such as cataracts. Sometimes the blindness cannot be corrected, but some causes of blindness can be reversed if you have the money to pay for the surgery or whatever is required. Other times, because of financial strain or perhaps because the dog is very old, people opt to let the dog live out his remaining years without sight.

Don't feel that your blind pet is unhappy with life and would not want to live without his sight. Dogs are amazing creatures and are capable of living a full and rewarding life whether they are blind or sighted. My adopted brother Koko, an apricot poodle, had restricted sight for the last few years of his life. He had no trouble getting around and playing with me and my sister until the last few months of his life. By then his sight was almost gone and he had developed arthritis which restricted his mobility and left him in pain.

Caring for a blind dog is not as easy as caring for a sighted dog, but well worth the extra effort. Your dog is a part of your family and deserves all the love and devotion you can give him.

Until next time,

Teia