Man's best friend

In April of 1998, we brought home a new member of our family. We were fresh on the heels of grieving the loss of our precious Doberman, Shelby, and needed someone to shower with all the love we were so used to giving her. On a beautiful Thursday afternoon, we brought a filthy, matted 3 year old male Miniature Schnauzer mix home from the SPCA. He was not housebroken - had been an outside dog his entire life, in fact - and was not neutered. The "reason" his previous owner gave for putting him up for adoption was that he "kept jumping the fence." Go figure. Anyway, her loss was definitely our gain. As luck would have it, I arrived at the shelter to "look" at exactly the same time as she was surrendering her dog...Fate? No...

I'll never forget seeing him in that cage. I don't know that I've ever seen an animal so scared. He would make only the briefest eye contact and then look away. He was sitting ramrod stiff. He absolutely broke my heart. I just wanted to love this dog. The shelter has a policy that you have to fill out the adoption paperwork and be approved before you can even hold an animal. The approval process included them calling my Sweet Hubby at work to let him know that I had found a dog that I was interested in and to find out whether or not he would be in agreement with adoption. Wow! I could hear my Sweet Hubby chuckling on the other end of the phone!

I sat with him for more than half an hour. Him, stiff and unyielding - heart racing. Me, crooning and rocking - telling him all would be ok. I cried when I had them put him back in that cage. But I told them I would return in a couple of hours once my Sweet Hubby and I had picked our youngest son up from school and that if everyone got along, we would ALL be going home together. And of course, that's just what happened.

What a happy, happy addition Snoopy was to our home! Yes, he came with the name Snoopy. We thought about changing it - but you know what? It totally fit him! He was inquisitive about absolutely everything!! So Snoopy he remained. For a dog that had never been in a home before, he quickly learned his manners! We had him neutered and groomed and were amazed at how beautiful he was. He had toys galore but never destroyed a single one...it was like he treasured them. Precious. Everyone who met him, loved him. You just couldn't help yourself!

It was a journey of discovery with this pup who acquired many nicknames along the way...Moopy, Mr. Moop Dog, Mr. Jingles, Mr. JingJing, BrotherMan...He was deathly afraid of thunderstorms. He more than likely had been abused because he was "hand-shy" when we got him. And he had epilepsy. He was an absolutely wonderful dog. He loved and he loved being loved. Pure and simple.

Today, at 12:05 p.m. our Snoopy went to the Rainbow Bridge to meet, for the first time, his sister Shelby. I think they're gonna get along famously. He has been ill for a while, but this morning I knew the time had come. We are going to miss our little buddy. But we take great comfort in knowing that right now, at this moment, he can hear again...run again...play again...And he knows how very much we loved him and how thankful we are that we had him for these past 10 years.



Snoopy and one of his many, many babies...



Christmas 2007. Yet another new "baby" for Snoopy



Christmas 2007. Snoopy getting a prezzie from his Dad!

A DOG FOR JESUS
I wish someone had given Jesus a dog
As loyal and loving as mine
To sleep by His manger and gaze in His eyes
And adore Him for being divine.

As our Lord grew to manhood His faithful dog
Would have followed Him all through the day
While He preached to the crowds and made the sick well
And knelt in the garden to pray.

It is sad to remember that Christ went away
To face death alone and apart
With no tender dog following close behind
To comfort its Master's Heart.

And when Jesus rose on that Easter morn
How happy He would have been
As His dog kissed His hands and barked its delight
For The One who died for all men.

Well, the Lord has a dog now, I just sent Him mine
The old pal so dear to me
And I smile through my tears on this first day alone
Knowing they're in eternity.

Day after day, the whole day through
Wherever my road inclined
Four feet said, "I am coming with you!"
And trotted along behind.

Written By: Rudyard Kipling

Snoopy
"Ours"
April 1998 - August 15, 2008