To us, Coco was the greatest little dog that ever walked the earth. Coco came to us by a stroke of fate. My wife was at the Portsmouth SPCA looking for a dog, but not having any luck. As she was leaving, an attendant asked if she had found what she was looking for and my wife replied she hadn’t. The attendant said “But you have to see this little dog. She is so sweet.” That is how Coco came to live with us. She was about 6 months old.
When I came home from work that day, I found a stranger in the house barking at me but it didn’t take long for her to realize that I belonged. And it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with my new furry friend. She explored her new house and when she spotted the stuffed fox on the window seat, she barked and growled until she learned that it was no threat to her. As darkness fell, she discovered another dog looking back at her in all the patio doors. She barked and growled at the dog who made all the same moves she did until she learned about reflections.
For 12 years she was a constant source of smiles and laughs. When she was young, she loved to play with her toys which were kept in a basket. She was good at strewing them all over the house but she never
learned to put them back.
She would sell her soul to the devil for a strip of bacon. But this didn’t come easy. She had to do at least 10 tricks for bites of that bacon strip. She could shake hands, pirouette, wave, sit, lie down, tap dance and sing. Her favorite songs were Old McDonald and Dixie.
She loved to travel or go anywhere as long as she was with us. She was a great traveler. On the way home she would stand on the arm rest and check out the neighborhood dogs along the way.
She always knew when we were going somewhere and she would park herself at the back door so she wouldn’t be left. When we couldn’t take her, we would tell her to go to her room and the look on her face would break your heart. But, when we came home, all was forgotten and she couldn’t have been happier to see us. I will never forget the wagging tail and the greeting I would get coming home from work.
She loved to go to work. Three days a week she worked for the company. She was given the title of Human Relations Manager and she did her job well. She also wrote an article in the company newsletter.
She loved to go for walks and smell everything – especially stinky things.
She loved Christmas with all the decorations and she looked forward to Christmas day when she got to open all the presents. She loved to tear the paper off the packages and shred it on the floor. But she was so good that she would only do that when she was handed a package and we told her to open it. She could really make a mess but we loved it.
At the Williamsburg Western Film Festival she would dress up like a cowgirl dog and parade around the lobby of the hotel handing out autographed pictures of herself to anyone who wanted it and occasionally she would take a walk through the dealer room.
She loved the attention she received.
She loved taking naps on the sofa. She was so happy we bought her that sofa. She would even share it with us.
When she heard us getting ice from the freezer, she would come running for the piece that dropped on the floor. And one always did.
She loved to ride the elevator sniffing everything on the way up or down. I was always afraid she would catch her nose on something as she stuck it through the grid.
In the summer when we were in the pool, she would run around and around making sure we were ok. She didn’t understand why we wanted to get in the water. Sometimes we would put her on a float and drag her around the pool. She seemed to enjoy that as long as she didn’t get wet.
She loved chasing squirrels. Fortunately she could never catch one but she never gave up hope.
We learned so much from that little dog. She gave us unconditional love. It didn’t matter if we were happy or sad, sick or well or just mad at her for doing something she shouldn’t have done; she loved us just as much.
If the whole world was more like Coco, this would be a much better place.
I was so proud of my little girl, Coco. She was so unique. We loved that little dog more than anything. She loved everybody she met and everybody loved her. A piece of me died with her. I believe dogs were put on this earth to be man’s best friend and they do their job very well. I firmly believe that as close as our lives are intertwined with our best furry friends, they go to heaven just as we do. They are waiting there for us to arrive just as they waited for us to come home.
She will be missed by all who knew her but she will live forever in our hearts.
Thank you, GOD, for giving us Coco!
Our Love Forever,
| ♥Coco Bear♥ |
| 12, Apr 2010 |
| Bill & Muriel Shumate |