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September 18th, 2007
by GINIE SAYLES
September 17, 2007
Copyright
2007 Ginie Sayles All Rights Reserved
We got Snuffy at the dog pound
in San Antonio, Texas. When I say ‘we’ I mean my 4 year old daughter and me. I
was divorced at the time and I wanted a dog for Audrei to play with when I was
busy around the house.
At the pound, we browsed the
cages, and one mud-splattered dog bound toward us. With his tail wildly wagging, he jumped up, putting two front paws happily up on the cage, as if greeting us.
Audrei fell in love with him,
instantly, and that was that. As we paid for him and for his shots, the woman
checking us out said “He’s a lucky dog - he would be going to meet his maker
tomorrow morning!”
He was so dirty, we took him
immediately to a veterinarian clinic that also groomed animals - and when we
returned, I could not believe it was the same dog. We had delivered a rather
scruffy-looking, dirty, medium-sized dog - and we were picking up a beautiful
dog with fluffy, long white hair all over and that covered his eyes. His black
button nose was peeking out - and he was the most adorable dog I had ever seen.
The Veterinarian estimated
Snuffy was a year old and that he was a Puli mix. I was not familiar with the
Puli breed and looked it up. Snuffy certainly had characteristics of the Puli;
but he was a mix! A lovable, huggable, unique mix.
Thinking he needed another dog
for companionship during the day while I taught high school; I bought another
dog to be his companion. Snuffy would not have anything to do with it, so I
sold the dog to a nice couple. I tried 2 other dogs, but had the same result.
Snuffy did not like other dogs
and even if they were large dogs, he would attack them - and win - by jumping
on their backs like a sheepdog herding sheep - and nipping at their necks and
ears while growling. I don’t think he ever hurt any of them; but because he was
on their backs, they could not get to him and would start running until he
jumped off - and they stayed away from him. I am sure the Dog Whisperer would
have a fit if he saw it - but that is how Snuffy was.
Snuffy was a loner… that
is…until Suzi came along!
The driver of a car threw a
paperbag into the street where oncoming traffic would crush it. My daughter now
9 years old thought something was in the sack and wanted to go get it.
We lived near Houston, Texas, at
that time, and traffic was busy; but Audrei watched for cars and safely brought
the paper sack back and exclaimed there were 2 baby kittens inside. Our next
door neighbor agreed to take 1 of the kittens and we kept the other - a tiny,
tiny white kitten whose eyes were barely open. And she had fleas. We scrubbed
her and cleaned her and wrapped her in warm towels and fed her milk with a
dropper until she could lap it herself.
And all the while, Snuffy came
close to baby Suzi, sniffing and gazing at her with perked ears and an
expression that equals a frown in dog expressions (for those of you who have
dogs and know what I mean) - but he never growled and never bothered her. He
just gazed at her and looked concerned.
We named her Suzi - and looking
at Suzi’s white fur and flat face, we could see a Persian mix - so we had 2
mixed pets, both just precious.
As she grew and began to purr,
Snuffy was entranced by Suzi. She could traipse across the tinkling piano keys
or along the narrow back of a chair and when Snuffy hopped up and tried to
imitate her, he would fall off. Suzi would wait, watching until he stood up.
When he did, she would continue her graceful walk and Snuffy would follow,
walking alongside on the floor, looking up at her in naked adoration and
fascination, his tail wagging.
I had a king-sized bed and even
though Audrei had her own bedroom, she liked to climb into bed with me and
watch television every night and usually went to sleep there.
Snuffy and Suzi would sleep
together at our feet on the bed. Snuffy would be in a U shape - and Suzi would
curl into his U shape, snuggled into his belly - her head opposite to his - and
they would nod off, Suzi purring. One night, I heard something and thought it
was Snuffy and half-awake, I called to him. Then I saw they were both still at
the foot of the bed, their little heads lifted, looking at me, then at each
other, then at me, then at each other, puzzled.
They loved each other. Snuffy
would let Suzi eat out of his dog bowl with him while he ate, and lap from his
water bowl - even though Suzi had her own cat food bowl and water bowl. Snuffy
shared and cared for Suzi and she for him.
When I moved back to West Texas
where I was born, I had to temporarily stay in a place for 2 months that did
not allow pets until our new apartment we preleased was vacated and made ready
for Audrei and me to move into. Our new apartment would allow both cats and
dogs, but until we could move in, we paid a woman near Houston to keep Suzi for
us for the 2 months and paid another to keep Snuffy.
Two months passed quickly and we
moved all our furniture and belongings into our new apartment and drove back to
the Houston area to retrieve our pets. We had missed them and turned excitedly
into the driveway of the first location to pick up Suzi. The woman keeping Suzi
said the last time she saw her, Suzi was in a tall tree and that she never came
back and the woman could not find her.
That was very hard to take. We
looked for Suzi but finally had to leave. We only returned with Snuffy and
although he was glad to see us and we to see him, he glanced around the car to
look for Suzi the way he always did when we took them both in the car with us.
Not seeing her, he settled by himself in a corner of the back window, and lay
there, quietly, the whole trip back to West Texas, as if he felt her loss, too.
Only 2 years later, we moved to
Lubbock, Texas where I was starting a new career as a stockbroker for E.F.
Hutton & Co, Inc. We moved into a brand new two bedroom apartment whose
management agreed to let us have a dog if the dog stayed on the patio while we
were gone. Our apartment was downstairs and easily accessible to the street.
In case Snuffy ever got loose
and lost or hurt; I knew that decent people would call us if we had our
telephone number on his tags; so I immediately had new dog tags engraved with
our new address and telephone number and attached it to Snuffy’s collar; and I
also hand-carved our new telephone number and new address onto the leather
collar itself.
Maybe it was a premonition.
Snuffy was stolen 2 weeks after
we moved there. It broke my daughter’s heart in terrible, wrenching ways that I
thought would never heal. She was only 4 years old when we got Snuffy. He had
been there all her life that she could remember. It was traumatic for her. She
blamed herself because she thought she had not secured him in the patio well
enough - but that was just not the case and it was not Audrei’s fault. If the
thief had seen the agonizing heartbreak of my daughter that lasted for years, I
don’t see how anyone could have done it.
These 2 special sweethearts -
Snuffy and Suzi - had appeared mysteriously in our lives and disappeared
mysteriously - we did not know where they came from or where they went. The
moment each appeared in our lives they were on the verge of being put to death.
The moment they left our lives they simply vanished.
Snuffy and Suzi were ”gifts” to
Audrei and me - and they were gifts to each other. They were always together. I
have never seen 2 pets who loved each other so much and enjoyed their
difference of species - a dog and a cat - who preferred each other over animals
of their own species. How precious and how dear the memories of their love for
each other are to me.
I have dreamed of seeing Snuffy
run to me, tail wagging, hair blowing in the wind, and of holding Suzi,
purring, in my arms.
I just wish it were so.
- Ginie
Sayles
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