In Memory of Dusty

It was the week before Christmas, 1991. I, like many people in the mall that day, was running rampid, trying to get those last minute gifts purchased. Long lines formed at every register. I was loaded down with shopping bags,and tired and hungry as well.

"I will never do this again," I promised myself, "wait until the last minute to finish my shopping."

After I finally got to the register, I paid for my purchases and left the store. I made a mental note to stop by the Sears pet center to pick up some items that I needed for my kennels. I was the proud owner of ten beautiful Chow Chows. I raised them all from puppies. We had very healthy puppies for sale and I wanted to keep them that way. It was difficult for me to part with the little ones. They looked like little teddy bears. I was terrified that someone would buy one and perhaps use it for a puppy mill, or mistreat it some way. Hence, I made copies of adoption papers. I gave the new owners a copy, and I kept a copy. At the bottom of the adoption paper, in bold, red letters, it stated. PLEASE RETURN THE DOG TO ME IF YOU FIND HE/SHE TO BE UNSUITABLE FOR YOUR HOME. YOUR MONEY WILL BE REFUNDED IN THE NEXT THIRTY DAYS. I also informed the new pet owner, that I would be making calls to them, inquiring about their puppy. I am an advocate of animal rights. I find mistreatment of animals to be intolerable. Especially one of my own kennel puppies.

Walking through the door at the Sears pet center, I wasimmedietly greeted by a precious ball of fur. He was running around the store, bouncing and playing. He was in fact, a little show-off. As he slid his cute furry body at my feet, I could not resist picking him up. I sat the shopping bags down in the middle of the floor, and scooped him up in my arms. He felt soft, and smelled good from a recent bath. He nuzzled into my neck, and bit me on the ear.

"Would you like for me to take you and this little guy to a visitation room." the salesclerk asked.

I handed her the puppy and told her no. I asked her to direct me to the area where I could find the items I needed to purchase. She started to walk away after directing me. The puppy she was holding looked over her shoulder, and tried to jump out of her arms, keeping his eyes on me. I tried to ignore him, and went in search my needed items.

I saw the puppy back in his cage as I approached the cashier register. He was lying with his front paws crossed, with those big brown eyes starring at me.

"Let me see him one more time before I leave the store."

The girl smiled, and took the puppy back to one of the unoccupied rooms. Carrying all the shopping bags with me, I and placed them on the floor beside the bench. The salesclerk set the puppy on the floor. He started spinning, running,and chasing a ball she had tossed in the room. We played together the puppy and I. Reality hit me, and I realized time was passing quickly as I played the puppy game. I must hurry now to get home before dark and tend to my kennels. Through the large glass window I motioned for the sales clerk.

"Is'nt he adorable." She smiled as she entered the viewing room.

"He certainly is.

I can't take him. I already have ten Chows. Ten Chows of which I am sure, are hungry and waiting to be fed."

She looked at me, shocked.

"Ten Chows, why so many?"

I briefly explained to her that I was a kennel owner, gathering my bags as we talked.

She took the puppy and left the room. I sat there in the room for a moment longer. The room was quiet, and seemed so empty without that little guy running and spinning around my feet. I missed his presence.

"I can wrap the puppy up and you can take him home for Christmas." The clerk said as I was getting ready to walk out the door and into the Mall.

"No, I better not take him. I have plenty to take care of. I smiled and walked out the door.

I went to the coffee counter located next door to the pet store. Juggling a cup of hot chocolate and my packages I sat down on a benches. Relaxing for a moment and sipping my chocolate, I noticed the puppy had been placed in the window of the pet store. Adults and children alike stopped to watch the playful little puppy. The clerk had certainly been correct when she stated he was adorable.

"How much is that puppy?" I asked as I entered the pet store once again.
The clerk smiled and rushed to get the paper work on him. She returned and informed me that he was on discount for the holidays. She pointed her finger at the top figure on the cardboard sign, and then pointed to the discount price.

"He is well worth the price, and we do business with the breeders quite often. We know they have healthy puppies."

I thought for a few moments, and decided that the discount price was still a bit steep. Spending over my budget for the Christmas gifts, and still had to travel four hundred miles to be with my family for the holidays, I hesitated. My mind was telling me to grab those shopping bags and run, don't walk out of that pet store. However, my heart was telling me differently.

The clerk continued with all the high points about the puppy. He had a pedigree, and this is his Dames pedigree, and his dad won........."I don't care about all that, I want the puppy because I like him. His pedigree means nothing to me." I said.

I looked at the puppy. He had his little fuzzy paws crossed and those big brown eyes were still on me. He looked as if he was saying, "Come on, take me home."

"Okay, give me a carrier box and let me find him a chew toy." She smiled and ran to the back to get me a carrier.

Shopping for a leash and collar, I found the perfect toy. It was bright yellow with a squeeker. A small chicken, just the right size for the puppy.

With shopping bags in one hand, the carrier in the other, I merged in and out of the mall traffic to make it to my car. Once outside, I realized I had taken a wrong turn somewhere, and was on the wrong end of the mall. Back through I went again.

"We made it! I told the puppy as I placed him on the front seat, and strapped him in the seat belt.

Driving the forty miles back to my house, I thought about names for him. I finally decided on Dusty Mopp. He looked like a dust mop when he came sliding up to me at the pet store.

Dusty was always a wonderful, faithful pet. He was a ShihTzu with long, flowing hair. He loved to be brushed. It did not take long for him to chum up with me. We became a pair. Wherever I was, Dusty was there in my shadow.

I drove a truck for a living, and Dusty became known to my fellow drivers, as my Co-driver. He was loved by so many, and he enjoyed all the attention .


Any time I stopped at Walmart to shop, Dusty knew he would have something in the bags when I returned to the truck. He would search through all the bags until he found his toy. Sometimes Dusty would take me shopping at the PetCo stores. I bought him a Harley Davidson jacket which came with a matching cap and sunglasses. He loved wearing it. My favorite outfit was the bibbed overalls with the Tennessee orange tee under the bib. On the back of the tee in bold print, "I love the Vols."

Dusty was easily trained. He was always eager to learn a new trick, if he thought it would please me. He could count to three, tapping his paw on the floor. He could stand on his back legs at attention. Roll over and play dead. He did not like playing dead! His cutest trick was sitting up straight on his hips and patty caking.

Dusty knew my moods. If I hurt, he was there to soothe me. When I cried, he would lick my tears away. If I was happy, he was also. He was the highlight of my life. He brought to me joy and comfort that I can not attempt to explain.

We took time off from the road and went home three times a month. Dusty would run in the fenced in yard with his brindle colored hair flying like spun silk. He was certainly a beautiful dog. He enjoyed being home, running in his yard causing problems for the Chows.

My best friend developed Osteoporosis after being on the truck with me for twelve years. I had to retire my Co-driver. I took him to live at my mother's house. She gave him prescribed medications, and the best of care. He was truly a family member. A family member who had won the hearts of all. The family agreed in his last days he deserved the best treatment possible.

I took his box of toys when I took him to my mother. He still loved playing, even at his age. His favorite toy continued to be the Chicken that I purchased the day I bought him. We could tell him to go get his chicken and he would root through the toy box until he found it. That chicken was no longer yellow. I had washed it so many times it lost it's color. The little rubber squeeker was falling out, so I stitched it. He slept with the chicken under his head.

Dusty was two months shy of his fifteenth birthday when he became ill. He had been showing signs of illnesses for a few months. His skin was drying out, and he could not get to his feet once he laid down. He lost his sight in one eye and the other eye was also getting bad. My mother gave me reports when we talked on the phone. She would tell me that she had to carry him to the Vet., or that he had stopped eating and drinking. He also would have accidents in the house, something that was unheard of for Dusty. He always, had excellent house manners.

When I went to visit my mother Dusty would always lay beside me. If I sat on the couch, he lay across my feet. He wanted to be close to me. He always welcomed me when I entered through the door. His tail wagged and he seemed to be smiling.

When my mother became sick, and had to go into the hospital, I did not know what I would do with Dusty. He was much to old and sick to travel with me again. The rough ride in the truck would surely have caused him more pain than he could endure.

Lying in the same spot in the basement I had left him in the night before, I found him wet around his belly. A proud dog, who never had accidnets in the house, had suddenly become incontinent. He had urinated on the blanket, and could not get up and move out of the wet spot. I realized, it was time.

My friend and I took him to the Vet. Doctor Smith had taken care of him for years. He knew the attachment between Dusty and I. He told me to come into the room and visit with him for awhile before he injected him. I was crying and sobbing.

I stood next to the table . All the precious memories flowing through my mind. "When I was lonely, and had no one, you were there. You have proved yourself over and over again, to be my best friend. You are my heart Dusty." He laid there listening to me. He did not move. His head was laying on his front paws. The top of his head had now turned gray. He was still my beautiful little boy in a fur coat. My heart was so heavy. I bent and kissed him on his head and told him. "Be a good boy, be strong, and I will meet you someday just on the other side of Rainbow Bridge." I kissed him again, he raised his head and looked at me, as if saying, "It's alright. I'm tired and ready to go on." I hugged him good-bye for the last time Unexpectedly, he tilted his head upward and kissed me to wipe away my tears. He knew I was broken. He knew that just one last time, he would console me as he had done so many times before. At his final hour, he tried still to bring me comfort.

The comfort, the memories and the pleasure I found in this one little bundle of fur will linger in my mind always. Many times I think about how easy it would have been for me to walk away from the pet store without the puppy. And then, I think of all the joy I would have missed, and the opportunity to share a small part of my life with a most deserving little fur boy named Dusty.

WRITTEN IN MEMORY WITH A HEART FULL OF LOVE, For my precious Dusty Mopp. He will someday meet me again as I cross Rainbow Bridge to reclaim him.