Dingo and Dennis, A Love Story

There was once a six year old boy whose parents decided he should have a puppy he could grow up with. They each had that opportunity as children as did the man's older son, and they wanted this boy to also know what it's like to grow up with a puppy.  The boy, whose name was Dennis, already knew two family dogs but they were there before he was born, and by the time he was old enough to play with them they were both too old to play with him. A few years after the last one crossed the Rainbow Bridge Dennis' parents started looking into what kind of dog would be a good choice. They decided on a Shetland Sheepdog, found a reputable breeder about an hour from their home, and planned to bring the puppy home for Dennis' 7th birthday.

Now this was not a normal birthday or a normal year in Florida. This was the 2004 hurricane season. One hurricane, Charley, had already passed through the area and another was on its way. Still another came a few weeks later. That was the year the hurricanes stole Dennis' birthday party. However, getting a puppy made up for not having a birthday party.

The puppy was not a surprise, so Dennis was prepared. He had already decided to name his puppy Dingo. You see, Dennis was a huge fan of  The Crocodile Hunter and with his six/seven year old reasoning, Steve Irwin is from Australia and a dingo is an Australian dog, so he'll name his own dog Dingo.

On Wednesday September 1st, Dennis and his mom (full disclosure: she's the blog author :D ) drove to the breeder to pick out the puppy from the litter and bring him home. On Friday, September 3rd, Dennis turned 7 years old. On Saturday, September 4th, Hurricane Frances came barreling through. From the beginning Dingo was known as "our hurricane puppy".

Dingo knew he was a family dog, but he also figured out pretty quickly that he had his very own boy. Dennis and Dingo were inseparable from the start. When he was too young to be allowed to roam free, he slept in a cat carrier. He cried and cried until Dennis' parents figured out a way to stop him. They set the carrier (safely) on a chair facing Dennis' bed, so Dingo could see his boy. He stopped crying. As soon as he was old enough to be trusted not to hurt himself, he was allowed free at night. From that time on, he slept with Dennis in his bed. Dingo was a pillow hog.

As time went on, the puppy and the boy both grew up and older. Dingo and Dennis took dog obedience classes and though Dingo was the one who earned his Canine Good Citizen certificate, both learned a lot about dog obedience. When Dingo was 4 and Dennis was 11, Dennis thought it would be fun for them to do dog agility. They went to a weekly class at a nearby kennel, and Dennis became a Junior Handler with Canine Performance Events (CPE). They had so much fun together and continued even after Dingo officially moved into the Senior Dog category.

By the way, Dingo was a gorgeous dog but he didn't know it or act as though he was beautiful. He was just a goofy, sweet dog who loved his boy with all his heart.

As Dennis moved into the teen years he, like many teens, got busy with school and friends and activities. Still, he never left the house without saying goodbye to Dingo and he always greeted him when he came home. They still spent time together. When Dingo felt energetic enough to play, which was happening less and less, Dennis made time to play with him. When Dingo didn't have energy they just hung out together. Dingo still slept in the bed, but since he found jumping up too difficult, Dennis lifted him on to the bed every night, and gently set him on the floor each morning.

There comes that time that every pet owner dreads, when you know your pet is not going to be in this world much longer. In the fall of 2015 it was becoming clear that time was getting closer for Dingo. The vet gave him medicine to make him feel better, but there wasn't any medicine to make him get better. In February of 2016, the love story came to an end, as Dingo crossed the Rainbow Bridge with the help of his caring veterinarian and with Dennis by his side until the very end.

The End

As a mom, one of the most difficult things I had to do was watch my bigger than me 18 year old young man fall to pieces over the loss of his childhood dog. But I don't want to end this post on a sad note. When I mentioned to a friend how hard it was not only because I was missing Dingo, but because of how hard it hit Dennis. She sent a message that included the following words:

 "This? Is so so SO hard. The thing is... Dingo left Dennis with a gift he will carry with him his whole life: compassion, and the ability to love and look after  a creature put under under his care. This, in some way, is Dingo's legacy: he left behind a boy, a young man in pain, but who is a better person for it." 

D is for Dingo and Dennis and the 2016 Blogging A to Z Challenge