It’s so easy to get caught up in the sadness of a situation. We strive to mourn our loss for now and then celebrate the life of our wonderful dog Kross Kountry Kalifornia *Kali*.
I dedicate this story to your life Kali. There was no sweeter soul.
~*~
Kali wasn’t necessarily the pick of the litter. She won over her master
by tugging on his shoelace when he went to pick out a new puppy.
She was raised in California by her master for the first 4 years of her life.
A new life awaited both of them in Utah.
Kali came to Utah first to live with her extended family for the
first few months until her master could join them.
She warmed up nicely to her new family with 3 new human
kids of her very own to love and protect and a new mom
who loved her liked she loved her own children.
Once her master joined them a few months later,
life was a slice of heaven!
Two years down the road her family decided they loved her so
much they wanted a piece of her to carry-on forever.
They set about finding a mate for her.
On January 4th 2000 Kali had a litter of beautiful pups.
Her family called them her Y2K pups.
There were 5 of them 4 girls and 1 boy.
(The first one she had in one of her human kid’s bed!)
Although Kali tried her hardest to revive her 1 of the
girls was stillborn.
Kali was saddened by this but turned her attentions to her
new babies and took loving care of them.
Her family took her pups to the vet’s one day to dock their
tails and clip their dew claws and they knew that Kali
would want to be there too.
Wow! What a mistake!
Kali heard her babies crying in the back room from
the procedure and proceeded to howl and growl to
be near her pups!
Her mom had to take her outside so she couldn’t hear them
whining but she was NOT pleased!
Her Master brought the pups to her in a small box and Kali tried
to her hardest to squeeze her medium frame into this large shoe
box to suckle her pups! Her mom and dad Master
got quite a kick out of this!
It was a bittersweet time for her family.
They had the joy of watching Kali give life to her beautiful pups
and grow into a wonderful caring mother.
But then came the time when they realized they couldn’t
keep all 4 pups and it was time to sell them.
Her family kept 2 of them. The male and a female their names
are Zoey and Buddy.
Her mom’s mother also kept one and she is named Jiggy
she looks the most like her mother Kali.
A loving family drove 6 hours to buy the last female we called
her Miss Perfect they named her Maggie before they
left the house that day.
Kali took very good care of her pups just like she took
wonderful care of her human kids.
Kali loved to go fishing.
She would watch the bobber in the water for hours on end
because she knew sooner or later as that bobber came up
so would a fish!
Kali would perk her ears whenever someone said,
“get the bird!” although sometimes the bird was a mouse
that had gotten in the house!
Kali loved to go camping with her family.
Her last days were spent with her mom and master in
the mountains camping. She played in meadows of wildflowers
and dipped her nose in the clear pure mountain streams all the
while her aging body was shutting down.
An ugly tumor was invading her body but not damaging
her precious soul. The vets felt optimistic that maybe with the
removal of her spleen and the tumor she
would live for awhile longer.
Her family and her pups gathered around her before her surgery,
giving her a circle of love to strengthen her and just in case
saying their good-byes.
Kali survived the surgery and her family gathered around her at the
vet’s once again to give their love to warm her through the night.
In the morning the family gathered to her side again at the clinic
and brought her some of the comforts of home;
a blanket she liked to sleep on and a stuffed teddy bear for
her to rest her weary head on.
In the afternoon another visit was paid to her.
The vet asked her mom to encourage her to stand up and walk a bit.
So her mom bent down to Kali beckoning her “get the bird!”
Kali’s tail wagged and slowly she propped herself up.
Her mom took her for a short walk outside so she
could relieve herself.
The vet said this was very encouraging! In fact it was so encouraging
that the family was given permission to come back in a couple
of hours to pick her up and bring her home.
So her mom told her “Take a nap and rest Kali.
I’ll be back soon to bring you home.”
An hour later when the vet went to check on her Kali had fallen asleep
and slipped out of this life.
Kali lost her life to cancer 2 months shy of her 9th birthday.
She gave it a valiant fight to the end but in the end she knew
it was time to go.
She knew her family had all came to say their good-byes
and the thought of her dying in her home in front of her
family made her sad.
She knew the right time to go.
Her master brought her home.
Her family once again gathered around her in a
circle of love and mourned their loss.
You will be missed Kali.
More than you could ever know.
~*~
Thank you for showing us unconditional love.
For making us better people and giving us the gift of your essence.
We were truly honored to have you with us for a short time.
Now you go ‘get them birds!’ baby!
Thanks for reading…
Shelley and Steve
| Kali |
| Shelley and Steve |