The Extraordinary Life of CoCo from Puppy Mill to Paris - Part 4

I apologize for not getting this out sooner. Time is flying . . . But I wanted to make sure to finish this lovely story of CoCo being my travel/adventure partner in my move to France. So here we are . . . With much practice I figured out how to maneuver 2 large suitcases, a backpack and CoCo's carrier with me on the long journey from Colorado Springs to Justian, France. She was considered my carry-on so she could be with me in the passenger area, but had to be under the seat in front of me for take-off and landing. I was able to upgrade my international segment so that I had an empty seat next to me and once we were in the air I was allowed to set her carrier on that seat and, while I couldn't take her out, I could unzip the top enough to fit my hand in there and reassure her that all was well. Yes, I had to pay to have her on the flight. And I had observed all the regulations that are required to take your dog overseas. But it was totally worth it! Because of poor planning on my part (at the time I thought it would be helpful to take stopovers rather than travel the 15 hours straight to get to SW France) it took us four days, four airports, three flight segments, four hotel rooms, planes, trains, taxis and finally my rental car before we arrived at our little rental cottage where we would live for seven glorious months! CoCo did so well with all of those changes and lack of a consistant schedule. She was my little trooper!! This was September of 2016.

I brought her bed and her carseat with us so she had some familiar things as we journeyed from Colorado Springs to Toulouse, France and then by car to Lassénat St Georges - our final destination. Everyday was a new adventure which we thoroughly enjoyed. I even loved all the crazy things that happened, like trying to open a bank account (they questioned my nationality even with showing them every bit of ID I had!), buying a car with an automatic transmission (those do not exist in France!), getting car and rental insurance (for a foreigner) It was certainly a learning curve and I couldn't have done it without the help of my wonderful landlords (who became my "famille française").

When CoCo and I arrived at the cottage for the first time we were greeted very warmly by Hélène and Giuseppe, and not so warmly by their three cats, Penny (la grande dame!), Kitty and baby Misty. The humans were happy to see us but the cats weren't sure what to make of CoCo. It didn't help that CoCo hated cats! After taking a few days to unpack the two suitcases I had brought and the two boxes of things I had mailed over before we left, we were ready to go exploring. So much to see in this part of France which used to be known as Gascony and only a couple of hours from the Pyrénées mountains and Spain.

Something that I loved doing every week was visiting the Thursday morning market in the nearby town of Eauze. This is by far the largest and best outdoor market in this area of SW France - everything from produce to farming equipment, linens to trees, books to kitchen tools. Any and every thing you could possibly need or want can be found at this year-round market. It was in visiting this market that I realized I needed a way to carry CoCo around with me and still have my arms free. She was so little that I didn't want to keep her on a leash in this really crowded area. I was afraid she would get stepped on! So I went in search of a purse that was large enough for her to sit in comfortably and would go cross-body. A clothing and accessory store in a nearby town had the perfect one! CoCo seemed very happy with it and "rode" quite easily in it never trying to jump out. A "win-win" for us both!

She went everywhere with me. When the weather was warm enough, we followed some walking paths through the forests and countrysides. We went shopping and on short over-night trips. In November we drove north to visit the Loire valley with its magnificent chateaux. We saw Fontevraud Abbey where Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II and son Richard the Lionheart are buried. And we visited one of the most beautiful zoos anywhere - the Zoo de Beauval! And CoCo could come along everywhere -even to the zoo! The purse idea was so helpful! And it came in very handy when I started having visitors in January and February. The French are very dog-friendly and most businesses, including restaurants, are quite happy to welcome canines! One of the many things I love about France. In fact, many family run restaurants have their own dog who is the "greeter"! So as my visitors came and I wanted to show them as much of my little corner of France as I could, it was great to be able to bring CoCo along on some of those really long days. In February, my good friend, Beth arrived for three weeks of fun and adventure. I had planned a 5 day road-trip to Paris for part of her stay. It was Beth who coined the term "pooch in a pouch"! I loved it! Everyone in Paris fell in love with CoCo. The problem with that was that CoCo didn't like people and I would have to warn everyone who commented on how cute she was that she was not friendly: "elle n'est pas gentille!". Some of them didn't think I was serious and would reach out to her. I was very proud of her (and relieved!) that she never showed any aggression! whew!!

We came back to Colorado in March of 2017 after having an absolutely fabulous time, seeing and visiting places that I had long wanted to see, and making life-long friends. Our journey home was easy. We flew from Toulouse to Frankfort and then it was a direct flight from there to Denver where Beth was waiting to pick us up. CoCo spent about 15 hours total in her carrier and again was perfectly behaved. She did mellow some during the 11 years that I had her. She finally would let Andy give her treats (but not pet her!) That was progress, as far as I was concerned. There's no way of knowing the trauma that she had endured in the three years she was kept in a cage at the puppy mill. For those who did not know her story, they probably thought that she was a little crazy. I always tried to warn people about her possible aggressive behavior and it was an opportunity for me to educate people about the horrors of puppy mills. But, I know how far she had come. She had overcome so much. She was smart and beautiful and I still miss her everyday. I'm so thankful for Bella and Max - and now Gwinnie - all of them are puppy mill rescues. All of them have different stories. The best feeling in the world is adopting a shelter dog and knowing that you are giving them the life they deserve. Thank you for reading my blog. It means the world to me! Merci!! Now what will I write about???!!!

The Extraordinary Life of CoCo - From Puppy Mill to Paris Part 3

First of all I must apologize for taking so long to write Part 3 of CoCo's story. There are 2 very good reasons for that. The first one being that my computer and my blog app do not seem to like each other as of December. It has become frustrating to try to figure out how to combat (yes, I mean that!) this difficulty. The format looks very different and it is not as user friendly as it used to be. The second reason is a little white fluffy dog named Gwinnie! She joined our household the Monday after Christmas and is worthy of her own blog post - later. But now back to CoCo! In the year leading up to my move to France there was a flurry of activity as I prepared my house for sale and CoCo for the long flight in a small carrier. I hired a trainer so we could work on her getting comfortable being in a carrier for hours at a time. We had 3 private sessions with her and they were very helpful. Then I started taking CoCo to as many places as I could that were dog-friendly - sometimes keeping her in her carrier and sometimes just carrying her around stores in my arms. The trainer suggested putting her in an agility class as those sessions were good to build confidence and help with command obedience. It just so happened that the training center was going to have agility classes for small breeds and so I signed CoCo up for those. I know why poodles were so popular with circuses in years past. They are not only cute and playful, but they are great athletes and performers. This was another example of CoCo doing things to please me! I'm not sure she was that excited about performing all of those tricks, but she was really good at them and I had a great time!

One of the places where she was welcome was the Garden of the Gods Trading Post. I started taking her there to be around people and to have lunch. On our first four or five visits CoCo shook the entire time, even in my arms. She was so little that I seldom put her on the ground when we were in crowds. I wss afraid she'd get stepped on. Eventually, she came to be quite comfortable being at the Trading Post with me. I always had to warn people that she was not friendly. Most people wanted to pet her, but she was known to bite, so a warning was in order. I also took her on a few car trips and on a few domestic flights to see how she would do in her carrier. I did a lot of reading about flying with dogs and checking with airlines and, of course, with France, to see what their requirements were for transporting dogs. She had to stay in her carrier while on the plane, but it was ok to have her in my lap in the airport waiting areas. She adapted really well!! I read that take off and landing were usually the worst for the dogs in their carriers under the seat because of all the vibrations of being on the tarmac. To help allay that anxiety it was suggested that I unzip the carrier just enough to fit my foot inside to assure her that I was still there and wouldn't let anything happen to her. This seemed to help a lot. She would settle down and stop whimpering as soon as I did that. Depending on the flight crew I was allowed to put her carrier in my lap once at cruising altitude (not all crews on United flights were ok with that, so I always asked.) We made a road trip to visit family in Texas and another one to Albuquerque to apply for my Global Entry pass (the Denver airport didn't have any appointments available in time for me to insure that I would get the pass in plenty of time before I moved to France.) That was her first experience in an airport. I was curious about what airports required when it came to having dogs inside. It was a good learning experience for both of us. It was also good to have her sleeping in a few different hotel rooms on those trips to see how she would do. I always took her bed with us so she understood that we were sleeping in these strange places. While all this was going on with CoCo I was getting my house ready to sell. That meant scraping popcorn ceilings, painting walls, refinishing wood floors, getting rid of most of my earthly possessions, taking things to Good Will, renting a storage unit for those things that I didn't want to get rid of, and eventually putting the house on the market. My days were full. I'm sure CoCo knew something was going on but she was such a little trooper!

The house sold faster than I thought it would and I needed a place to stay for about 2 months before the move! My dearest friend, Stacy, offered me her mom's empty townhouse for as long as I needed it! Such a blessing! So CoCo and I moved out of our big house (which I had lived in for over 40 years!) and into a place that CoCo had never seen before. Once again, she was such a good girl! She seemed to realize that if my luggage was there and her bed was there then she was safe. There was no yard, just a small back patio area, so we got used to sitting on the front porch with her on a long lead so she could enjoy the grass and do her thing. She was always really good at going potty on cue! If I was gone, she was so good about staying in the townhouse and watching for my return.

I had to get her into the vet for a certificate of international travel. It stated that all of her shots were up-t-date and she was healthy. Then I had to make an appointment at the USDA office in Denver so they could certify that the vet was a licensed vet in the US and then I received another certificate from the USDA that would be recognized at customs once I landed in France. For a fee, of course! And all of that had to be done withing 10 days of our international flights. After many months of preparation we were ready to go. I had two large suitcases, a backpack and CoCo in her carrier. I had sent a couple of boxes ahead of me to my rental cottage in France. I was soon to find out how blessed I was with the friendship of my landlords! Cindy came four days before my departure. During those days I sold my car, had one last visit to the zoo, had my going away party at the Stroup's house and did final packing. Cindy, CoCo and I stayed our final night in a hotel close to the airport as I had an early morning flight. Andy met us at the airport so he and Cindy could see us off. I was so excited I didn't have time to be sad at leaving the two people I love most in the world! Somehow having CoCo with me helped the transition on this epic lifetime journey on which we were embarking. Goodbye USA and bonjour France! I guess I'll need one more blog post to actually get CoCo to France and eventually to Paris! Until then, thank you for joining me on this written memoire. Part 4 coming soon!