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Ever since I can remember, I had always wanted a dog. When I was young I used to ask my Mother for one all the time...but she told me I had 3 sisters...what did I need a dog for??!!
In October of 1974, when we were married for about 4 months, a boy came up to us in a mall, and asked Jeff: "Hey Mister...you want a puppy"? He was holding a little black ball of fur. My heart melted, but it was drilled into me that a dog was such a tremendous responsibility, so I hesitated. Jeff looked at me, and then back to the boy, and said "sure"! And that was it.
We named him Fonzi. He was a lab/shepherd mix, and a complete joy to us. Fonzi was our first "baby". We took him everywhere with us. "Love me, love my dog", was our motto! Six weeks after we took Fonzi in, we found a stray cat, Little Mama. She wasn't thrilled with Fonzi, and used to swat him every time he'd come frollicking up to her. A few months later, Mama had her kittens, and Fonzi was like a mother to them. Little Mama had accepted him by then, and they were our "family". Fonzi would lick all the "Ladies" and they cuddled with him while they slept.
I was afraid that Fonzi was starting to think he was a cat! So, 2 years later when someone again approached us in a mall with a fluffy lab/shepherd mix, 8 week old puppy, asking if we could adopt her....we did! We named her McGee. She adored Fonzi. They were the closest of friends. McGee "tolerated" the cats, but they all got along very well.
In early 1990, Fonzi had a lump on his skin by his chest. A little while later, he had one inside his mouth too. It turned out to be mast cell tumors. We had them operated on in July, but we lost Fonzi 6 days after the surgery...
McGee was devastated without Fonzi here. We tried to never leave her alone. But on the occasions when we had to, she was very unhappy. We lost McGee on Aug 20, 1991. It was very sudden. She was fine in the morning, but when we came back from the foodstore, and she didn't want the roast beef we always gave her, we knew something was wrong. We rushed her to the vet, and he told us to watch her, and if her gums got paler to take her to the emergency clinic. She passed away a few hours later. The autopsy showed that she had a tumor that had ruptured on her spleen.
We've always seemed to have a sick kitty since then, so getting another puppy or dog has been impossible for us. I loved my "pootsies", and I miss them very much. Someday I hope we can get another puppy....or two! Dogs add so much to your life!
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