Sat, June 17, 2006 - 5:02 PM
Today I arrived home from Descanso Gardens, opened the door and watched my little dog, Hades, as he ran all over the apartment, excitedly running all over the floor. He chased his tail, then barked as I stooped over to pet the two cats.
He barked again, as if to say, "hey, I'm the one you should be petting!" He waited a few seconds, then rushed in and chased poor Tabby, my 14 year old cat, away. No, this was dog petting time...
I sighed, put down the groceries, and carefully put a weeks worth of food into the refrigerator. Hades sat there, barked a couple of times to get my attention, and waited for me to finish. He was very familiar with the drill.
When I was done, I smiled and went over to pet Tabby again. Hades ran all over, chased his tail, and rushed out of the room. A few seconds later he was back with a toy. He upped the ante, demanding that I play with him now.
I grabbed the toy and he refused to let go. We played tug of war for a few minutes, until I pulled it from his teeth. I threw the little toy across the room, and Hades rushed to get it. When he got there, he stood over the toy, looked back and me, as if thinking, "well, what do I do now?" A few minutes to ponder the question, and he left the toy and came over to be petted.
I spent the next thirty minutes playing with my little dog. After all, he and I are best buddies. I went to the kitchen to start dinner, and while it was cooking I reflected on the interesting relationship between my dog and I.
Hades is six years old. When my stepson was living with my wife (she died in 2005) and I, he begged for a puppy. Apparently he had always dreamed of having a dog all to his own.
Claudia and I decided on getting a dog for Al on his birthday. She got onto the web and began looking for dogs. This was our second attempt at a dog since we had been married. The first was a disaster. We got a very nice "little" dog, but the landlady was furious since she realized something we didn't ... it would be a very big dog when it grew up. Not something for a small apartment, and not a dog for a very sick wife (she had severe chronic lung disease). So I had to give our first dog away to a nice family. My wife and Al were very upset with this course of events ... most specifically, they were upset with me.
Claudia was determined to get a dog and this time she'd learned her lesson well. She found a small dog, a Pomaranian, on the internet at a breeder in Wisconsin. This dog was expensive, over $300, but it was a purebred with a documented pedigree. We agreed on the price and had the dog shipped via airline.
Now I wasn't too overly thrilled with this whole plan. The first dog had been a miserable experience, with everyone mad at me. I didn't feel a dog was going to work out well, but on the other hand, it would make Claudia happy. She was very sick at the time, and I would have done anything that I could to cheer her up.
Okay, i agreed to get the dog, but I was not about to go to the airport to pick it up. I had a very busy job and there was no way I could take off the time. So Al had to get a ride from a friend and proceed to the airport himself.
The dog arrived at his new home in a little cage. This little dog was about 2 pounds and would fit into your hands easily. He was so tiny, and he was terrified. He had, after all, just spent two days in a small cage in an airplane.
It took us a few minutes to coax the animal out of the cage, but he finally poked out a head, then a paw, then another paw. Of course, Tabby chose that moment to see what was happening, and Hades ducked back into the cage. Sigh. We had to coax him out all over again.
And what do you think the first thing that Hades did when we finally got him to come out of the cage? He threw up all over everything, of course!
Now Al and Claudia spent the next hour or so playing with Hades. The little dog was starting to warm up to them, and then I came out of my office (I have my own room in the apartment with all of my geeky computers and stuff which is where I work from home). The dog took one look at me, cringed and pee'd all over the floor! He was terrified of me.
At the time, I thought it was kind of amusing (although a little disturbing) but shrugged it off. Everyone was hungry, so I ordered some pizza, which arrived in a half hour or so. We opened the box, each of us grabbing a slice, and made went into the kitchen for a few minutes.
We returned to get another slice, and the pizza was missing. So was the dog. After a thirty minute search, we found him under the couch, but we never did locate the remainder of the pizza (half an extra large).
Over the next hour or so, I found teeth marks in literally everything within a foot of the floor. Books were destroyed, pillows were chewed, shoes were rampaged, and even CDs and videos were victims of this little dog's very sharp teeth.
And that's how he got his name .. .Hades.
That night, Hades and Al went into his room to sleep together. The idea was for the kid and the dog to bond. That didn't work out. You see, Hades kept him up all night long, until he finally came out in disgust and dumped Hades on Claudia's lap. I remember watching the dog's face as my stepson went back into his room, rejection as clear as words. You could just see Hades decide right then and there, "this one was not for him".
Hades and Claudia bonded after that, and he became her dog. Hades still pee'd all over the floor and cringed whenever he saw me. We guessed that I must have reminded Hades of someone in the past, someone who was not nice to him. Perhaps his previous owner?
Hades and Claudia became best friends. Over time, Hades warmed up to me somewhat, at least he didn't cringe and pee all over anymore.
In 2003 Claudia went into a coma for 17 days. Her chronic lung disease collapsed her lungs and her blood pressure went up to the 300/200 range. Those were 17 very dark days, but in spite of all Claudia pulled through and returned home. While she was gone, poor Hades was stuck with me, and he didn't like it at all. He spent most of those days stuffed behind the couch or some other hiding place.
Over the next two years, Claudia recovered and the bond between Hades and her grew strong. Hades warmed up to me slightly, and would finally let me pet him sometimes. It was as he was slowly coming to realize that I was not that person from his earlier days who harmed him.
Then, on January 31st, 2005, a Monday, Claudia called me at work, saying she didn't feel good. I came home quickly and found her in bed. She didn't look good at all, so I called 911 and they rushed her to the emergency room.
Eighteen hours later she passed away.
I remember coming home and looking at Hades sadly. I wondered what he was going to do now that his best friend was gone.
I was very sad and sat down on the couch. Tears came up to my eyes. Suddenly, I found Hades in my lap, looking up at me as if to say, well, you've still got me! I looked into that innocent little dog's face, and knew that his little fur ball was a lot smarter than I had thought.
We slowly bonded over time, and now Hades and I are best friends. He greats me at the door when I come home from work, "helps" me carry the laundry downstairs, keeps those "pesky cats from bothering me", and bids me goodbye when I leave for the office. We go on hikes together, including places like Vasquez Rocks and Monrovia canyon.
www.roseworks.com/canyon-park.htm - Hades and I hiking in Monrovia canyon park.
www.roseworks.com/2006-02-0.../index.htm - Our hike at Vasquez rocks.
So that's they story of Hades and how he and I came to be buddies.
Auntie Pita (cause I am one!) (Sat, June 17, 2006 - 8:03 PM)
you brought tears to my eyes Richard... Pom's are such great dogs, and can be so very sweet, and loyal and then some!
You have a wonderful friend in Hades! Remind me someday to tell you about Pandora the cat!
Cassie Townsend (Mon, June 19, 2006 - 10:36 AM)
Wow. Great story, Richard! Thank you for sharing!
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