The Extraordinary Life of CoCo - From Puppy Mill to Paris Part 2

A number of years ago I read an article about rescue dogs that said dogs think of their adopters as their saviors. I really do believe that to be true for CoCo. She adored me and wanted only me in her life. She had no desire to form relationships with anyone else and only accepted the dogs in her "pack". This was obvious in her being aggresive towards others. In order for her to not bite or go after someone who was in our house or walking towards our car I would have to hold her. Then she would settle down. But I had to warn people not to try to pet her. She was such a cute little white fluffy dog that everyone commented on how sweet she looked - and I had to tell them the truth. "Unfortunately, she is not as sweet as she looks. She will bite." But she did anything I asked of her. After I retired from teaching I moved all of us - CoCo, Huck and my 20 year old frog Whiskers - to Liberal, KS to help care for my aging mom. I rented out my house in the Springs and, with Andy's expert moving skills, moved everything to Kansas to a lttle rental there. I continued to learn a lot about CoCo and mill dogs in those two years. She was great in the car, but then she was great as long as she could be with me and near me. Huck, being part Husky, loved to run so I would let him and CoCo out in the alley about once a week. It was so funny watching CoCo's little legs try to keep up with Huck. She, of course, had never run before - not much chance to do that when you live in a tiny cage. Her body would get more momentum going than her legs could keep up with and she would do sommersaults! She had more courage and tenacity than any dog I've ever had! I started doing some traveling during those years and found someone to come over and take care of the dogs and the frog while I was gone. I made sure they came to meet the dogs first. Huck was always happy to see someone come. CoCo wanted to get rid of them! I told the sitters that the best thing they could do would be to not try to engage CoCo in any way. I had treats available and told the sitters to toss treats to her - she would not take them out of anyone's hand but mine. And I told them that she would not jump up on the bed to sleep with her (it had to be a female sitter) so to put CoCo's bed on the floor next to where Huck slept. Eventually, she got used to my being gone and would tolerate having a sitter around. She also tolerated the move back to the Springs when I moved my mom to live with me here. That was also an adjustment. She wasn't sure what to think of Mom's walker! But she was tolerant (I seem to use that word a lot with CoCo) of my mom and her presence in our home. Mom was with us for 2 1/2 years before she passed away and she really enjoyed having the dogs around.

One thing that stayed persistant in CoCo's life was her love of sunshine. She loved to find a ray of sun coming through the window and she would lie there and preen, like a cat. It was so cute to watch her. She started her life never seeing the sun and so she wanted to absorb as much as possible. If we were outside she would start in my lap, but if the sun shifted so did she!

CoCo and Huck were best friends. In the next post I will write about our move to France. What a grand adventure we had! Thank you so much for reading my blog. I always appreciate your comments.