Memories of a friend

Many moons ago the wife and kids watched a movie called 101 Dalmatians. You can probably guess what happened next. So we get in the car to check out the local pet shop and find a littler of these maniacs and of course I had to get the biggest dog in the group.

We get the dog; and I call the pup a dog because at a month old he already weighed twenty pounds or so, anyway, we get home and what seemed to be a nice easy going dog is now the maniac dog from hell.  I can see why people set them loose on the world after owning one but we shall get into this later.  The dog starts to run around the house stopping only for a few minutes to attack us in between floor chewing and chair ripping.  This pup was uncontrollable to say the least.

We wanted to name the dog Dice or Domino or maybe even Spot but when I say we I meant me, and therefore I really didn't have any say in the matter.  So we named the dog Pongo and if I can guess so did millions of others who saw the movie and ran out to get one.

We took Pongo to the best vet in Jersey because he started to draw blood after his rampage on his new family.  The so called best Vet in the world recommended he be put to sleep immediately.  We, being thoughtful and kind people decided that this Vet was not only all high and mighty but hated animals so after a few weeks of pondering the situation, and a few more bites, and other uncontrollable urges the dog had like chewing the whole tile off the kitchen floor and actually eating the kitchen cabinets, we made a decision.

Getting back to why people get rid of these dogs simply by letting it out the front door is because they just didn't let the time period settle the dog in. Our decision was to bring Pongo to a trainer.  We arrived at the trainer and now having Pongo almost six months he now weighs in at ninety pounds.  Pongo pulled me into the training area.  After one session with Russ the trainer, he actually walked out of there by our side.  The lessons consisted of our dedicating time every day to his training and after a months time, the dog was actually obeying us.  There was no more biting, no more running a muck, and no more tile eating.  Pongo was a great dog and that my friends is the secret, training, not tossing out mans best friend after a few weeks of ownership.

Pongo was an amazing dog.  After his training, he actually got it, he started learning on his own.  We would give the dog treats but his favorite was carrots.  Pongo would open the fridge by himself and take one and close the door.  He would be let out to make his business and when he was finished would bark one time and we knew he wanted back in.  So do you think we were really in control?  Nope, but at least he was now a civil part of the family.

Now Pongo weighs in a one hundred and twenty pounds.  He does everything we do even when we watch television.  I was watching a show on dog training and saw the guy who trained Lassie.  He showed us how to train your dog to wave bye.  I showed Pongo one time only a weird thing happened.  Lassie would use his whole paw in a shaking hands motion to wave bye but Pongo actually used the front of his paw to wave bye bye as if a human was doing it.  He learned other things on his own like walking into the kitchen and using his nails to clang the bowl slightly when he needed a drink.  Pongo would even poop on command when we needed him to make a fast run.  I know maybe this was going too fay but he was now a pleasure.

Pongo was a joy for the next twelve years.  He was a part of the family and everyone for miles around loved the dog.  He had his picture taken for publications, and was now a dedicated dog and we would have never knew that if we would have jumped the gun and put him to sleep in the beginning.

We, the family and i decided to travel.  Pongo loved his rides in the car and loved the new adventures we now were on.  We moved to North Carolina when I noticed the first signs that Pongo was getting old.  He was now thirteen and for a dog his size, that was old, past the age most dogs live his size.  One night while we were sleeping, I was awaken by a licking to my face, it was Pongo.  I tiredly said, "Want to come up on the bed?"  Pongo sat and waved bye bye, collapse to the floor and died peacefully seconds later.  He was the best dog I ever had and it has been ten years since and we still miss him dearly.

That's it, there you have it.  My story about who I considered to be a loved one and so with tears filling my eyes now, I need to go and as always thanks for the read.

Adda boy Pongo