Pokey-one Year Later

[Guest LazyBones]

already, it's been one year. how time flies.

 

it is strange the way some things work out. i remember way back when i was a kid, i had an (incomplete) set of children's encyclopedias. in one volume, there was a full-page illustration of different dog breeds. as a child, i pretty much grew up with cats, but there were a couple dog breeds in this encyclopedia i was drawn to. you guessed it: the whippet and the greyhound. i thought to myself, "i want one of each." time would go by, and i'd completely forget about this brief desire.

 

not long after my brother, mother, and i moved south, we got ourselves a pet: a ferret which my brother named "jinx." and some time later, i had mentioned that i'd like to have a dog. mom said we could get one, but it would have to wait till she could find a house to buy. i had no particular type of dog in mind. my brother and i turned to the classified ads in the search for a new dog. however, mom said that we could not get a dog from the paper. if we wanted a dog, we were going to save a life. so one saturday, mom, my aunt, and i went to two animal shelters in memphis. i saw a few dogs that i liked, but mom said they were too big. she saw some she liked, but i didn't want a small dog. we were just about to give up for the day, but on our way home, mom said, "wait! why don't we go check the [local] animal shelter?" so, we make a third stop. you know what they say....the third time's the charm? well, it's true. in a room off to the side, love came at first sight. in the top cage was a young white/brindle whippet, estimated to be 2-3 yrs old, with an [unrelated] puppy. not too big, not too small. i put my fingers in the cage to give her scritches, and she put her head down and wagged her tail. i had asked the employee at the shelter if we could take her out and walk her a round a little, to get a feel for her personality. as soon as he opened the cage, she jumped right out. unfortunately, however, she wasn't available for adoption, because she had been picked up as a stray. they told us she would be available for adoption thursday if nobody claimed her. because she did have a collar on, i thought for sure someone would be looking for her. i was kinda worried, because i really liked this dog.

 

thursday came, and it was a rainy day. mom asked her employer if she could get a little time off that that day, and they agreed. i was at school all day, and in that time, i was on pins and needles. was she claimed? was she still there? well, you all know the answer. when the final bell rang, i was in a rush to get home and was walking pretty fast. i wasn't sure what to expect, but when i opened that door, there was my girl, greeting me with an enthusiastic tail. she was now home. my brother was the one who named her "pokey," after the clay cartoon character on the "gumby" show. he said she looked like a skinny little horse. mom had said that one lady working at the shelter said, "if nobody adopts this dog, i may. i can't stand to see a beautiful animal like that be put down."

 

she was the perfect dog for us. she loved just about everybody (minus cats and small critters), and was pretty social around other dogs. what was odd was that she LOVED jinx, considering she had a very high prey drive. the two of them became buds. i remember how depressed pokey became after jinx disappeared. every time we pulled out the tv (jinx used to sleep behind our old console), pokey would jump up in hopes of jinx coming out.

 

in november of 1995, a new dog joined the family. a young 3 month old greyhound pup, big and clumsy. her name-gumby. it was some time after getting her that i remembered that one wish i had when i was younger. pokey wasted no time showing gumby who was boss. those tow had fun running around in the yard. pokey did most of the chasing. she was fast as lightning, agile and low to the ground, and she could catch gumby. when nearing a corner of the yard, you could almost see gumby brace for the impact. the two chased squirrels, and they even had a path beated down around the tree. pokey, unfortunately, did kill quite a few (mostly baby) birds. and one time she did snatch an adult robin in flight. but after she injured her knee, she didn't run much, and she later developed bad arthritis in that knee.

 

she was a chow hound, and she would even say "mama" for a cookie. she never really "saved" her treats, like gumby would do. one of her favorite things to feast on were junebugs, so when that time of year came around, i'd even help her get them. she was also a velcro dog, though to a fault. i know there were quite a few times i'd get frustrated about that. she would stop right in front of me while i was trying to walk down the hallway, so i would end up picking her up and then putting her back down on the living room floor (to avoid stepping on her). in general, she was a pretty healthy dog, aside from an occasional seizure. usually, she would "tell" me when she was about to have one.

 

but in the end, she was developing a lot of the problems associated with senior dogs. some of them weren't big deals, but she did have some major problems. she wa losing weight, the result of going into kidney failure. she was also in heart failure, and her arthritis had taken a turn for the worse. she didn't want to go for walks anymore, her appetite was getting weak, and she seemed a bit depressed. my brother's friend even said she looked "confused." so one rainy sunday, we took her to her last vet visit. they said she probably had only about a few months to live. there was one other treatment they could try, but pokey seemed like she was ready to go, and being the great dog she was, i didn't want to put her through any more pain/discomfort. she died peacefully in my arms. she came into our lives on a rainy day, and left us on a rainy day as well.

 

i wish you all could have had the chance to know my pokey better. she was a really great dog. it was especially tough saying good-bye, because less than three weeks earlier, my brother had to euthanize his amstaff chyna (HW disease, the result of a neglectful previous owner). chyna was like one of my own.

 

i will post some pics of pokey sometime soon.

 

 

POKEY

 

adopted march 24, 1994 - left us january 22, 2006

[Guest WarmheartedPups]

You tell such a wonderful story...you make me miss Pokey too!.

 

It never leaves does it?

[Batmom]

From your descriptions, I know she was a dog in a million. And I will look forward to those pictures when you feel like posting them.

 

Hugs and sweet memories of your girl.

[Guest hannahmom]

I can't believe that it's been a year already

I'd lve to see some Pokey pics when you are ready

[robinw]

it's hard to believe that it's already been a year. that was a wonderful tribute

[Guest argolola]

I was just thinking of Pokey the other day when I saw your siggy. May God bless you.

[Guest LazyBones]

here are some pics. will likely post more later.

 

pokey and young gumby attacking the big stuffed bear. pokey sometimes had, um, "relations" with that bear.

 

pokey (not looking too thrilled) right after gumy came to us.

 

there's nothing like being buried in pillows and blankets

 

in the yard

 

pokey and chyna

 

pokey enjoying a bone. look how big her head looks!

 

pokey's motivational poster, using the famous picture of her in her wig.

 

pokey and my neice (pic taken with my brother's cell phone).

[Devotion]

Pokey was beautiful. May your memories stay alive forever. thanks for sharing your tribute with us.

[Guest LazyBones]

i also thought i'd share this little video. i have a bunch of videos recorded on dvd, but i ended up having to play it on the tv, and used my digital camera to record it playing in order to share the video.

 

it shows her doing basic obedience commands, and her "singing" for a cookie. it might take a little time to load. enjoy!

 

pokey sings

[GreyPoopon]

Pokey was clearly a wonderful pup. I'd love to see even more pictures.

[patricia]

I miss her too.

[Guest LazyBones]

more pics.

 

pokey and her best buddy, jinx. we used to put jinx's collar on the xmas tree, but when it was time to take the tree down this xmas, i put jinx's collar next to pokey's on top of pokey's urn.

 

gumby and pokey with the easter bunny.

 

being crowded by the goofy gumby.

 

long ago, we actually tried to breed her, but it was a failure. at the time i was disappointed, but looking back on it, i'm glad that didn't work out (it was later that we discovered she had seizures-cause unknown-and we're glad she didn't potentially pass that down). here she is with her "husband"

 

this was my cousin's dog, who would occasionally come over to play. he was a tripod GSD mix.

 

my cousin and a friend stayed over one night. here she is, just being "one of the girls"

 

one of her duties.....inspecting the fireplace. she had to make sure there were no birds or bugs in there.

 

my master roacher....

 

....and it didn't matter who was in her way.

 

chyna's (top) and pokey's (bottom) collages, which i made myself.

[greypuppyluv]

 

Pokey was a beautiful little girlie. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful tribute. I love the pictures.......

[Guest desmo]

That was a great story and really nice pics. Thanks for posting them.

 

- Mark

[robinw]

she had a lovely singing voice. thanks for the video and pictures

[Guest KennelMom]

What a beautiful little girl I'm so sorry Thank you for sharing her story and pictures with us.

[grey14me]

I can't believe it's been a year already. She was such a little character...we all miss her :grouphug

[Guest TBSFlame]

Thank you for sharing your story. It was a beautiful story of love.