Is it possible three years have passed since I lost my best friend, Charlie? He was my buddy like no buddy ever before. Charlie wasn't my dad nor my uncle. He wasn't a cousin or even a high school classmate. He was man's best friend, and he was tragically killed by a car in front of our home. To say I was devastated isn't close to the truth. I shed more tears on him than I thought possible.
For three months I remained in mourning when, finally, I knew I had to mend my broken heart. I went on the lookout for another Charlie, a sweet and lovable fantastically intelligent Cairn Terrier, knowing all too well there would never be anyone who could take his place. I had called a dog rescue in Portsmouth, Ohio to inquire about a Cairn. "Yes," I was told, "we have one." I jumped in my car and headed two hours south to a location on the banks of the Ohio River. When I came to the front desk and introduced myself I was told the stray had been adopted. With great discouragement and a bit of sadness I turned around and drove back to our home in Dublin, Ohio but still determined to salve my sorrow.
Three days later, as I was searching the internet for almost any puppy, I came across a dog rescue outfit a half hour from our home then drove over to see if they had adoptees and they did. The lady who ran the operation brought out a mix Jack Russell and she was the saddest pup I'd ever seen. If I were still carrying a broken heart, which I was, this poor little thing only added to my sorrow. The owner of the operation placed her on the ground. She lifted her head slowly and looked at me and with her eyes all I saw was a precious little creature from God seemingly saying, "Help me."
When her five-year history was relayed to me, I realized one thing I needed to do for this little gift and that was to give her a home and sixteen tons of love; something she had never experienced.
According to what I was told by her rescuer was she was born in Kentucky and was found behind a sheriff's office, abandoned and was approximately two weeks old. Her next stop was to the local dog pound. She was placed in a cage and stayed in it for one year and was then adopted by a woman who was in her eighties. She lived in a 600 sq ft apartment. Sadly, when this puppy had to eliminate bodily functions the woman set her out the front door to be greeted with an asphalt driveway. There were no walks in the woods. There was no walking anywhere. The only thing this dog knew was how to eat and poop in all the wrong places and this scenario stayed this way for four years until the women passed away. And as for this adorable little creature it was back to the pound. Almost immediately word got out regarding 'Sweet Sadness' and, as I stated earlier, she was rescued and was about to win life's lottery. God always has a plan.
It took me five minutes to tell the rescuer I'd take her. Little did I know what was about to occur. It was me, not her, who would learn more about life, and love and responsibility. I made a commitment to give it my all to make sure this special lady had a chance to enjoy life. It wasn't going to be easy as I found out but I was going to give it my all.
First things first. The lil' girl needed a name. The one given her was Cookie. I hated that name; made her sound like a floozie. When I have a pet, a new best friend, I give them real names aka people names. My next-door neighbor thought Cutter would be good. I thought about that for at least 30 seconds and said, "I don't think so." I wanted her to have a name she could be proud of, one that made her special when she strutted down the street. So, I took the first letter of her original moniker and added another from the name suggested by my neighbor which, if you didn't graduate grade school, becomes CC. That didn't work for me either, so I thought, "It needs to be feminine and what's more feminine than a French Brigette Bardot type name, so I stretched it out to CeeCee and, viola, a star was born.
I'm going to cut this post shorter and get to the good stuff. It took much longer to bring out the trust in CeeCee to become semi-normal than I anticipated. First, I early on learned she was deathly afraid of other dogs which is completely understandable since she was pulled from her litter early on, she never had a chance to bond. CeeCee was fearful of men especially large ones. As for women, she loved each and every one she met. I don't know why this is about men and women but I'm the same way especially when it comes to the female type. I kid you not when I say the first time she stepped foot on grass she, well, she was fearful but after a month or so she fell in love with pine trees. No, I don't mean she watered them, but what she did do was sniff the needles---for half hour if I'd let her.
It took CeeCee 18 months to get the courage to jump up onto the couch and sit on my lap. When we went for rides in my car she'd sit on the passenger seat and look out the window. It's been three years since she came into our lives. Last summer we drove 17 hours from Minnesota to Ohio. She made my lap her bed for the entire trip.
I'm skipping over many details; how we hired a trainer, the time we spent together getting to know our habits, likes and dislikes but things seem to be working out. I'm a softie when it comes to making her happy. I have three different lounging beds for her. I have a special car seat which, as you already know she doesn't use because my lap is her home. This is what I tell people about her being spoiled. I spend more money on her than I did my three children combined. If she wanted to drive my car I'd let her.
And now it's time to see the transformation. It took a year for this pose to happen but it's my favorite photo. She looks happy and that makes me happy.
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